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| This morning while doing janu-sirsasana C my left knee made an alarmingly loud crunching sound like someone stepping on a pile of crackers. I have never heard a joint in my body make such a sound. But there was no pain or discomfort whatsoever and I continued on with my practice until navasana.
I have been doing Ashtanga for over ten years, but I have always had a very spotty practice. All the same, I have pretty much mastered the first series. I have probably done janu-C literally a thousand times and have no problem with it whatsoever. But this was weird, to say the least.
As of this evening my knee itself still doesn’t hurt, but my left leg feels a little stiff and sore.
Note that I have not been doing Ashtanga for several months until just this week, but I have been teaching yoga and sitting for long periods in lotus for meditation. Also, I live in an old traditional house in Japan and sit on the floor constantly; point being, even though I haven’t been practicing much this winter my hips are very flexible.
Any ideas what the heck is going on, or any suggestions?
Many thanks,
Andrew
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| I have had some weird sounds out of my knees during yoga and though I cannot comment on what exactly occurred in your knee, I will highly recommend ice, ice, and more ice!
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| For what it's worth, I remember something similar happening to me a couple of years ago, except the (very loud) sound came from my groin. Like you, I felt absolutely no pain. It was almost as if my femur had slipped out of place for a split moment and then returned to its position, if that makes any sense. I was pretty freaked out, but there were no consequences.
I did permanently f-up my groin later, but in a different incident. |
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| I've had a more or less constant grinding noise in my knee going up stairs for several years. I've been told by a doctor not to worry about it. It causes no pain and I think yoga has helped a bit, though not removed the problem for me. If there's no pain, I wouldn't worry about it.
Be nice to know what the cause is. Suspect though in my case it's old age and overuse! |
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| My knees are crunchy too. started about 1 year ago...... |
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| Well, I guess if I were to be completely honest, my knees have always 'cracked' but as I move deeper into my 40's, my knees are crunchier too. I do find that icing is helpful if they feel a little achy post practice, but that doesn't stop them from being noisy, though. |
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Location: London, England | http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/9339/31202.html
Hi,
The above link goes through one of the most common causes of knee grinding, chondromalacia. The information is also good for other causes of knee sounds. You will already appreciate that it is very difficult in yoga to keep the knee aligned between the hip and ankle joints, and that muscle imbalance, or overuse of one muscle group, can make the knee 'track' improperly.
Nick
p.s. I don't personally advise concentrating on the quadriceps to improve knee strength-to me, this can add to knee problems (overuse of quadriceps to hold the knee posture), especially as many yoga asana stretch the hamstrings.
Edited by Nick 2009-03-22 8:19 AM
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Thanks for the reply Nick.
That sounds grim. But just to be clear, I do not believe my knees "grind," which I take to mean a sound produced on an ongoing basis, presumably when one walks or climbs stairs, as one of the posters described. This is not my experience. Nor, as I mentioned in my post, do they hurt: the problem sited as the most common symptom of chondromalacia by the link you give. This was a one time thing. In fact, what I now believe (and hope) happened was that my knee "cracked." At least this is my hypothesis, as the sound was identical to the sound produced by cracking one’s knuckles, only alarmingly loud. Here is an interesting link that explains why and how joints crack. Before people start thinking they need a knee replacement they may want to read it. Thanks much for the info all the same.
http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/joint.html
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| Hmmm . . .
Now you got me thinking, and I actually listened to my knees as I straighten them. Lo-and-behold, there is a kind of grinding sound there, quiet, but noticeable. I hope this is separate from the initial episode, but it is a bit disturbing all the same. I read that the problem is often caused by tighteness of the lateral quads . . . and mine are like rocks. I'm starting on a program of self-massage as of tonight.
Thanks again for the info. |
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Location: London, England | Hi Andrew,
Sorry, I wasn't really looking at the original post, more at some of the others.
I'm a doctor of chiropractic, so the link you sent, I've elicited this sound in thousands of people  .
The thing to realize is, knee sounds are not necessarily indicative of that person going on to experience knee pain. At the moment, therefore, they cannot be used as a diagnostic tool, except perhaps the sound of the anterior cruciate ligament tearing-any football coach who has heard that once will be able to give a diagnosis on the spot if they hear it again.
What I try to do in my classes is to teach students to gain optimal knee health through changing the way they move into asana. There's various ways I'll do this, perhaps by getting them to look at the movement of all three joints of the leg, rather than concentrating on the knee-use perfect alignment of the hip and ankle to induce perfect movement of the knee, and to inhibit destructive forces developing in the posture or movement which are harmful to knee health.
As an example, I'll try to stop the tibia sliding forwards underneath the femur, which stretches the anterior knee ligament-this is bad-any yoga posture where you are hanging off the ligaments of the knee is going to be likely to do knee damage if repeated often enough. In standing postures, you will often see the bent knee in virabhadrasana or parsvakonasana extending under the action of the quadriceps on the front of the thigh. So even though the knee is flexed, there is an 'extensor torque' on the knee. I'll try to get students to activate the hamstrings on the back of the leg, which has the added advantage of pulling on the whole musculoskeletal system-the use of the hamstrings as a 'muscle of bandha.'
Don't know why I said all that
Nick |
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Location: London, England | ahubbard - 2009-03-22 2:26 PM
Hmmm . . .
Now you got me thinking, and I actually listened to my knees as I straighten them. Lo-and-behold, there is a kind of grinding sound there, quiet, but noticeable. I hope this is separate from the initial episode, but it is a bit disturbing all the same. I read that the problem is often caused by tighteness of the lateral quads . . . and mine are like rocks. I'm starting on a program of self-massage as of tonight.
Thanks again for the info.
Hi Andrew,
Hee hee, read your first reply but not the second. Don't get too worried, look on the sounds as a warning, try to practice yoga, obviously, in a manner which is conducive to knee health. It will probably be the case that those sounds will now be with you for the rest of your life, , just try to keep knee injuries at bay, which may or may not be related to the sound.
Nick |
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Crunching sound in my knee
