Knee makes crunching/cracking sound when extended

[kneegurubro]

Hi folks, i got  a bone bruise 11 months ago after a fall, on the medial area of my knee, and there is some crunching when i fully extend it, the crunching hasn't gone yet though, does anyone know exercises or stretches to dissipate it? I read that wearing ankle weights, and then fully extending the knee will slowly get rid of it, it also crunches sometimes when i walk, when  my leg is fully extended

The knee has not bothered me significantly since the fall, but a cracking/crunching sound has always stuck with me. It is NOT a popping sound, but rather a sort of crunch coming from inside my knee, behind my kneecap. I can run and walk fine, but I did notice after a run the other day that my right knee (the one with the cracking sound) is a bit more sore than the other and simply feels a little different than the other (though the sound it makes may be just making me uncomfortable).

The doctor said it was due to wear and tear behind the knee

[vickster]

Not too much you can do about the wear and tear. You could get it tidied up but that's potentially only a temporary fix. Good focused physio on all the leg muscles can aid tracking of the kneecap if that's an issue. You could also ask your doctor about hyaluronic acid injections which can help lubridate the joint and reduce inflammation. This may not be necessary if there's no pain with the crunching and no impact on function

A good sports physiotherapist would be a good place to start, don't embark on an exercise programme without advice suited to your case (rather than that suggested by google or YouTube)

Assume you have proper shoes suited to your own gait for running, avoid running on hard surfaces and stretch everything properly afterwards

[MDAL]

No, unfortunately there is no exercise that will fix that... not a good thing to hear I know, but it is the truth. I'm in the same boat.

Cartilage that is broken becomes irregular in it's surface and produces that crunching noise.

What you can do at the moment is keep your muscles strong to minimize further degeneration, but at the same time you need to be very careful about what exercises you pick... you need the ones that won't put too much stress on it breaking it further.

For the moment not much you can do, but PRP and stem cell treatments could help fight back the process, but it's very expensive. I have done so with success so far.

Later down the road you may have surgical options like Denovo, ACIs, etc (forms of cartilage transplant using different methods of producing it - from donor or your own grown in lab)...

[vickster]

MDAL, did you get your fresh MRi yet to see the extent of repair from all the injections? I think you said it was going to be done around Christmas?

[MDAL]

No, not yet but I'm going to (still doing treatments). If you are curious I can pm you the results once they are out.

[vickster]

No, not yet but I'm going to (still doing treatments). If you are curious I can pm you the results once they are out.

I thought your knees were all better? Yeah be interested. I've just had an arthroscopy on my right knee to deal with frayed meniscus, inflamed fat pad and a tatty kneecap. All going well I think

[MDAL]

It's better. Been asymptomatic, but I don't take these treatments as a 1 shot and it's over... I am supplying in regular intervals in order to promote sustained growth. There is no scaffold so whatever will grow (if any) will be from repeated supply.

[kneegurubro]

Thanks for the replies, no cartilage damage in the mri, only a cyst and some edema, also for some reason my right knee (the one i fell on) can stretch further than my good knee, the physio said that it could be due to me over-stretching it (i was stretching it a lot more than the good knee) but she also said there's a small chance it could be lax, is there anyway to test this? I've almost fully stopped stretching it since she said that may be why it's like that 

[kneegurubro]

I understand, since exercises won't do much to fix this, other than the ones  mentioned (PRP and stem cell treatments), do you think HGH would prove beneficial?

[kneegurubro]

Since HGH can regrow/ heal cartilage, i was thinking  that may fix it, have you guys any experience with it?

[vickster]

No, it's not allowed in the UK, like a lot of countries

[kneegurubro]

No, it's not allowed in the UK, like a lot of countries

Ah yes i see you need a prescription for it, the funny thing is for me, the crunching goes whenever i do illotibia l bans stretches but it keeps coming back after an hour

[vickster]

Have you had a full biomechanical assessment from hip to foot + back from a sportsphysio.  Reckon it would be worth the outlay and better than injecting stuff that isn't truly proven to work

Do you foam roll?

You can't get HGH for knees in the UK full stop I believe, maybe in a properly controlled clinical.  It's licensed for undersized kids etc.  Any use otherwise is off label.  For example, it's banned from use in athletes under anti doping rules

https://www.wada-ama.org/en/questions-answers/human-growth-hormone-hgh-testing

If I had bad knees already, I certainly wouldn't want to take the risk given its documented side effects even if injected by a doctor

Commonly reported side effects for hGH abuse are: diabetes in prone individuals; worsening of cardiovascular diseases; muscle, joint and bone pain; hypertension and cardiac deficiency; abnormal growth of organs; accelerated osteoarthritis.