Do You Have Noisy Knees?
Noisy knees aka knee crepitus, is usually not the most comforting sound you want to hear.
So what is all that noise? When we hear noise originating from our knees usually it isn’t painful and doesn’t warrant us panicking and shopping for a new one. What it does mean is that the structures in our knee may not be moving in an efficient manner! Crepitus is the term used to describe this ‘noisiness’. It can be caused by abnormal mechanics of our legs, which over time can cause a reduction of cartilage in the knees. This can lead to more contact of the joint surfaces. However this is not the only cause, another being tendons/ligaments rubbing over bony surfaces. We have found that mobilisation exercises aimed to alleviate stiffness of the joint and exercises targeted to strength/stability of the knee can help to reduce crepitus of the knee. Mobilisation exercises
1) Knee gapping 3 x 30 sec hold 2) Powerband mobilisation - posterior to anterior mobilisation. 3 x 6 These exercises work to increase the mobility of the knee and decrease the contact of the two bony surfaces. Strength/stability exercises 1) Wall sit 30 sec hold x 3 2) Skater squat 10 x 3 each side These exercises work to improve the strength and stability of the knee, throughout a range of motion, which can help with de-loading joint surfaces of the knee. Give these exercises a try and let us know how they worked for your knees!
If you need help, reach out to our caring and friendly team at our Chatswood, North Sydney or Sydney CBD Physiotherapy Clinic. You’ll be glad you did!
