Do your joints crack when you stand up?
When this can be a sign of arthrosis
Created: 06/22/2022, 17:49
By: Juliane Gutmann
It cracks and crunches when you move: joint noise increases with age, which is usually not a cause for concern.
In some cases, however, you should act.
During sports, when you stretch and loll or when you take the first steps from bed to the kitchen in the morning: are you one of those people whose joints often crack?
You are not alone in this.
Joint noises occur more frequently, especially with advancing age.
According to the Swiss operator of the portal Physiotherapievergleich.ch and the internists on the net,
the main reasons behind the cracking are the following
:
Vertebral joint blockages
: In this case, the joints do not mesh properly and carbon dioxide builds up in the synovial fluid between the joint and the cartilage.
By stretching and stretching, the carbon dioxide bubbles escape and cracking noises occur, according to the Swiss comparison portal.
Shortened
tendons : Shortened tendons can also cause the body to "crack" if they suddenly come loose from the joint during movement.
Shifts in synovial fluid
: These can lead to cracking noises in the joints after getting up in the morning.
Weak muscles or a misalignment of the spine
: These factors often result in cracking vertebral joints.
Flexible joints
: According to the internists in the network, women's joints crack more often because their connective tissue is usually less developed than in men, which makes the joints more flexible.
Cracking joints are usually nothing to worry about.
© Bildverlag Bahnmüller/Imago
Cracking joints: What diseases can be behind it
The above reasons for creaking and cracking joints are usually harmless.
As the specialist portal MSD Manual informs, joint noises (medical term: crepitation) can also be symptoms of a joint disorder.
This includes clinical pictures such as osteoarthrosis, a chronic
joint disease
that damages the articular cartilage and the adjacent tissue.
Costen's syndrome is also a joint disease.
It is a dysfunction of the temporomandibular joint that can cause cracking noises in the jaw.
MSD Manual further states that joint noise alone is not an indication of a serious problem.
However, if pain is added, a doctor should be consulted in any case.
He/she can make the right diagnosis on the basis of various examinations and
initiate appropriate
therapy .
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Crunching joints can indicate osteoarthritis
A common condition that can be associated with joint noise is osteoarthritis.
Damaged or worn cartilage
leads to pain with this wear and tear
.
“In the case of advanced arthrosis, such noises are very common.
They are caused by changes in the cartilage layer in the joint, such as an irregular surface or cracks.
If the joint is loaded incorrectly or excessively, cartilage material can also be worn down in such a way that pieces of cartilage float freely in the joint.
These fragments can make noises when you move them," says Dr.
Edmund Edelmann, Chairman of the Professional Association of German Rheumatologists (BDRh), quoted by the internists on the Internet.
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According to Edelmann, it is better not to actively crack the joints.
"Anyone who repeats this frequently
overstretches and damages his joints in the long term
," says the rheumatologist from Bad Aibling.
(jg)