Over the past two years of my training. I have noticed my joints tending to “pop” more frequently. It started with my fingers and knees and now just about every joint in my body will crack or snap on occasion from everday activities. There is no pain involved with this just the unpleasantness of hearing a constant reminder that something is “off”. I am asking the informed members of T-Nation to share their advice/ information about this as well as any other comments regarding joint health. My family does not have a history of arthritis so I do not think this is from genetics. My training varies from very heavy lifting to high rep and I supplement with the basics (protein, post-workout, ZMA). Thank You.
hey,
do your joints actually DISLOCATE? or do they just make noise? if they make noise it’s just normal. i asked some physiotherapists this thing a looooooong time ago when i was about 10 years old… i usually get it in my right knee when i squat. they said it was normal… if they dislocate, you should see an orthopaedician.
Hey taparks,
Like Shamrock said it’s pretty normal. I just wanted to ask you if you use any type of fish or flax oils?
When I don’t use them in my diet I feel stiff in the mornings getting up. Especially when it’s winter time (a wimpy southern California winter that is)I hear everything cracking.
I notice that I snap and crack alot less when I use the oils. Seems to keep everything lubed up.
Other than that I really don’t think it’s something serious. And these oils have so many other health benefits.
“Sancho”
This is actually normal. As your muscles operate, they generate waste nitrogen. This waste nitrogen partially collects in your joints, where it forms little bubbles. As you move, and your joints shift, these bubbles escape and make little cracking and popping noises.
Another thing that causes this sort of noise is uneven cartilage wear and development. If you’ve injured your joints, the cartilage may deposit unevenly and create ridges within the joint. These ridges will then crack and pop and grate over one another, which can sound really nasty but doesn’t actually hurt anything.
Combine the two, and moving your joints around can make some truly fearsome noises. So if it doesn’t hurt, and you’re not noticing performance differences in the joints when the noises happen, you don’t really need to worry about it.
to sum up what all these informed individuals have had to say:
Quit being such a pansy and take your EFA’s!
Just playing around can’t wait till school starts so we can hit the gym together… hopefully I will be repping out 235 in squats by then… oh yeah your still a pansy