Crepitus

holnrew

My right knee clicks every time it bends/straightens, more audibly when I climb stairs. It gets a little sore if i bend and straighten it repeatedly but it's fine when I walk (and doesn't seem to click either). Is it a precursor to arthritis or just a getting old thing?

Sambostar

Clicking is just air.  Knees, shoulders, elbows, backs and hips wearing out are all normal.  How fast they wear out depends on the mileage rather than the age.

scrumhalf

How long ago did it start, and has it been happening consistently since then?

It could be just a bit of temporary inflammation (it cost me a physio session to find that out).

boogieman

Unless it gets sore all the time I don't think it's anything to worry about. My knees have cracked like pistol shots whenever I kneel down, they've done it ever since I was a kid. 

octatonic

holnrew said:

My right knee clicks every time it bends/straightens, more audibly when I climb stairs. It gets a little sore if i bend and straighten it repeatedly but it's fine when I walk (and doesn't seem to click either). Is it a precursor to arthritis or just a getting old thing?

Mine does it to- I can hear it clicking when I run.
I had it looked at- it is either rough spots on cartilage, or ligament tightening.
If it isn't hurting then it isn't supposed to be anything to worry about.

holnrew

It's been happening for about five months now I guess, consistently for three or so. 

Glad it's nothing to be bothered about.

Sambostar

Weight is also mileage BTW.  I put Cobra seats in my Transit because my left knee locks up after 4 miles.  MY back is also fucked.  Welcome to the bipedal race.  Yee haa.  Forget about it.  We're al fucked.

holnrew

I'm holding steady at over three stone lighter than my heaviest, I used to get pain in my knees which isn't an issue these days.

axisus

If it clicked when you walk you could have used it as a sort of pedometer. 

axisus

I had Major knee trouble about 6 years ago. It was clicking a lot, got sore and uncomfortable when sitting for long (50 mins in a car and it was bordering on agony), it would lock up when I was on the sofa and painfully/loudly click when I moved to get up. Couldn't jog 50 metres. I thought that my knee was buggered.

Saw the GP and he referred me for physio (3 month wait). It was useless but I booked another (another 3 months!). New person, no idea what the last one said/did and useless again. I was going to book another but the incompetence went on "I don't have a diary for next year so you will have to ring in January" (it was late December). I thought forget this NHS rubbish! I went online and started to look into knee trouble and found that you could get a problem similar to mine when you get a tendon imbalance and your kneecap gets pulled to one side. The thing to do was to exercise the tendons and get the bad one up to speed. I did this 5 days a week and in 6 weeks I was all good again. Bloody unbelievable! Since then I have done hundreds of miles of jogging with no discernible ill affect. I can't believe how fortunate I have been, I honestly thought that my knee was gone.

randella

I go to a Pilates class to manage my back pain.  One warmup exercise has ten of us go from crouching to standing on tiptoe which sounds like a 21-gun salute in the class with everyone's clicking knees and ankles, so I'd say it can be fairly normal

As with all these things though, if it gives you any sort of consistent gyp go and see the doctor - it's what they're there for.

MrBump

I went to a physiotherapist last year about my clicking/grinding left knee. Similar symptoms to you, no pain as such, just a lot of noise. She reckoned it was arthritis, and I should "just get on with it". Then earlier this year I made an attempt at running, and my right knee started doing the same thing, only with pain this time. Knees are bitches.