Are your joints popping or cracking? Here is what your joints are telling you

Are your joints popping or cracking? Have you ever wondered if this is bad for your joints? And what can we do about it?

In this blog post,  I want to give you a clear explanation of where joint popping comes from and what we can do about it. Also please look at the end of this post on an informative video on this topic as well.

Hi, my name is Jason and I love living a healthy lifestyle. That is why became a health coach to help others realize how to heal their bodies naturally. If you are passionate about health and wellness give that subscribe button and bell icon a click below to get notified when I make a video every week and if you feel this video would help someone please share it.

Synovial Fluid

Synovial Fluid

If you have never heard of synovial fluid that’s okay I had no idea what this was until my knees sounded like rice crispy treats, literal snap crackles and pops. Synovial fluid is the egg yolk like a lubricant in the joint capsule.  The fluid contains gases oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. When you stretch the joint capsule. Gas is rapidly released, which forms bubbles. In order to crack the same knuckle again, you have to wait until the gases return to the synovial fluid. But the science behind cracking a joint is the vacuum or negative pressure created in the joint space from cracking a joint to hear that popping sound

This article from the Spine Institue shows all about the spine and synovial fluid in this article

Tendon Rubbing

Tendons are the fiber tissue connections between muscle and bone and they will move with your joint as you move. But If your tendon moves out of place or due to tightness it could move abnormally then create a snapping sound.

When your tendons are tight they put pressure on the joint adding to discomfort you may have after the popping sound if this happens. If you have tendon issues like scaring or tearing this will result in the popping because the tendon lesions which lead to the shortening of the tendon and less elasticity.   

In this article you will see the correlation between tendon tightness and the joint popping sensation from it in the hip. 

Ligaments

Ligaments are fibrous tissues that connect two bones at a joint and stabilize that joint. Tight ligaments are prone to popping when they are suddenly moved, this sometimes results in short-lived pain in the area or sometimes you may not experience it at all. Tearing of the ligament can also be a cause of this noise. But did you know that your ligament being loose can create popping too?

Ligament Laxity

Ligament laxity is something you may have never heard but let me explain what this means and why it matters. So let’s imagine that your ligament acts like an accordion and like an accordion it stretches and contracts.  If your ligament loosens or releases its ability to keep the joint tight then we run into what is called ligament laxity.

In this article, they clearly show how ligaments can create issues in the joints. 

The loosing of the joint can create irregular movements creating sounds of popping and snapping. I myself have this in a few places but im actively working on getting my joints back to normal with a few of the things I will discuss with you next.

So What Can Be Done?

First I would say to reduce joint popping is make sure that your body has an adequate about of minerals. Minerals like magnesium, calcium, and zinc are super important. If you need some great supplement recommendations to check out this page here.

If you are looking to see if you are magnesium deficient check out my blog post about it. 

Second I would make sure you have adequate vitamin D levels. Vitamin D plays a big role in bone health and may assist in reducing joint-related issues. See this study on why vitamin D matters. 

Third I would say you need to move more. Motion is lotion for the joints so getting up from a chair every thirty minutes or doing light exercise is always great.

Keeping Hydrated is great for soft tissues like tendons and ligaments as they too require water to function properly.

Finally, prolotherapy can help stabilize the joint by injecting dextrose which is basically sugar water into the joint capsule that signals local stem cells to repair the area and strengthen tissues. I have done this procedure many times and it does help but it does hurt a bit.