Popping Jaws, Knees and Other Joints

Also Covers

Creaky Knees
Cracking Necks and Backs

Snap, Crackle, Pop and Other Assorted Sounds From Your Joints

Question: I have a lot of sounds that come from my joints. My back and neck creak and crack, my knees creak and many other joints make cracking, snapping and popping sounds. Do you know what causes this?

Answer: I use to have all of those problems with my joints, too. I live in a two story house, and my knees would creak loudly every time I would go up or down the stairs. Family members could hear me coming before they could see me. My neck used to crack a lot and at times even made "crunchy" sounds. I was diagnosed with TMJ and my jaw would make popping sounds when I yawned or opened my mouth up wide. That was all pretty disturbing.

I think now, after having silenced my joint sounds through trigger point therapy and yoga, that the different sounds are signs that your joints and bones have too much stress on them and are rubbing together in place they shouldn't and popping out of places they should be. I also suspect that in some cases the sounds occur because joints aren't being internally lubricated properly. (See my section on hyaluronic acid for more on joint lubrication.)

I asked a physical therapist about the crunchy neck sounds once and he said it was "normal". He told me that lots of his patients had that problem and that it didn't mean anything. Well, I don't think it is normal at all. I realize now that it was his treatments that actually caused the crunchy sounds in my neck. I believe that may be why so many of his patients had the same experiences. It wasn't because it was a normal condition, it was because the exercises he was prescribing were all causing the same types of problems by causing excessive muscular tension in many of his patients.

I suspect that some old school physical therapists, with their focus solely on strengthening muscles instead of lengthening and relaxing muscles (as occurs in yoga), are actually a cause of many joint problems. My back actually started making very loud "kerchunk" sounds at one point from physical therapy because the PT kept giving me back strengthening exercises when my back muscles were already overly tight and in spasm.

When I found a better physical therapist, and took up yoga and trigger point therapy, most of the snap, crackle and crunchy sounds all went away. My knees don't even creak anymore, and I had had that problem for decades. My younger son has a lot of cracking sound in his hands, and I think that is because he is always building projects with Lego which over stresses his hand and finger muscles. I'm trying to get him to do more stretching exercises. When he does hand stretching exercises, he can't crack his knuckles as often (something he likes to do).

I get a fair number of emails from people who develop assorted joint sounds after taking up a sport or new exercise or after going to the gym. Based on my experience, I would say those sounds are protest sounds from your joints letting you know that they are being over stressed. Take the commonly used phrase "Listen to your body" literally when you hear those sounds. Normal bodies shouldn't make sounds like a breakfast cereal.

My joints also used to subluxate, meaning they would slip out of position. It's like a mild version of having a dislocated joint. For example, sometimes when I'd try to bend my thumb, it wouldn't bend because the joint had been pulled out of position slightly. Usually it would bend again after I wiggled it around a bit and then the joint would snap back into place. Other times it would go back into position on its own when I tried to bend it - but it would snap first. The snap was the joint snapping back to where it should be.

These days I don't have very many sounds coming from my joints at all. I think that is what is normal.

Recommended Books:

Here are some tips I've found helpful to reduce joint tension and minimize snap, crackle and popping sounds:

1. Try trigger point therapy to loosen up muscles and prevent them from pulling joints out of place. The best book I've found on trigger point therapy is The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook by Clair Davies. Trigger point therapy is an easy to do form of self massage that loosens up contraction points in tight muscles.

The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: Your Self-Treatment Guide for Pain Relief by Clair Davies

2. For jaw popping from TMJ pain, the book I found the best was Taking Control of TMJ. It is one of the few books on TMJ that takes a whole body approach to the disorder, keeping in mind the idea that where you hurt may not necessarily be the cause of your pain.

Taking Control of TMJ: Your Total Wellness Program for Recovering from Temporomandibular Joint Pain, Whiplash, Fibromyalgia, and Related Disorders

3. Besides trigger point therapy, another good way to relieve overall muscular tightness is yoga. The book below is great for back and neck pain, as well as good all around general yoga guidebook.

Back Care Basics : A Doctor's Gentle Program for Back and Neck Pain Relief

3. Eat a varied diet high in nutritious foods, especially foods rich in magnesium. Magnesium is needed to relax muscles and is important for hyaluronic acid synthesis. Hyaluronic acid is used by the body to lubricate joints. .

Related Pages of My Site:

Shoulder popping - stretches and tips that I found helpful

TMJ - diet and exercise treatments.

Neck Pain Causes - my saga of chronic neck pain.

Fibromyalgia Diet - diet changes I made that helped with muscle and joint pain.

Frozen Shoulders - reviews overlooked causes, treatment tips and exercises.

Fibromyalgia Treatment - tips that helped me to live pain free.

Scoliosis - can diet and exercise treatments help?.

Migraine Headaches - explores overlooked causes including magnesium deficiency, muscle tension, high blood pressure and more.

Disclaimer: Statements and information regarding any products mentioned within this site have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or health condition. Any information on this site should be considered as general information only and should not be used to diagnose or treat any health condition.

See your health care provider for a diagnosis and treatment of any medical concerns you may have, and before implementing any diet, supplement, exercise or other lifestyle changes. Read the rest of our disclaimer and terms of use.

Copyright 2002 - 2008 Pine Canyon Media, LLC. All rights reserved