Joint Crunch - Causes And Treatment Methods

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 17:49

Crunchy joints

Joint crunch is a phenomenon experienced by both adults and children. Most often, a person notices that his fingers crunch. It seems like a harmless natural process. But this is not entirely true.

Crunching can be observed not only in the fingers, but also in the hip, knee, elbow, shoulder and other joints. In part, this is a really common occurrence that does not bring anything bad to our body. This crunch is called physiological.

However, there is also a pathological crunch, which indicates a problem with the health of the joints and may portend the development of any serious disease. It is not always easy to distinguish a pathological crunch from a physiological one. Usually pathological crunch is observed too often and occurs even with the slightest movement. In addition, such a crunch may be accompanied by additional symptoms, such as swelling, accumulation of fluid in the joint, sharp, dull or aching pain, redness, stiffness of movements, and others.

Content:

• Causes of joint crunch
• Crunch in the knee joint
• Crunch in the hip joint
• Joint crunch treatment

Causes of joint crunch

Physiological crunching in joints occurs in adults and children and can be caused by the following reasons:

• Carbon dioxide gas accumulates in the joint cavity and after falling back down, a popping sound is heard, which we perceive as a crunch in the joints.
• With sudden movements, a ligament may touch the protruding part of the bone, which will lead to a crunch.
• Joint hypermobility. Too high joint mobility is considered normal only in children and adolescents. If, in the process of bone, cartilage and joints formation, they are not replaced by stronger and less mobile ones, then this will be the reason for visiting a doctor. Since in some cases this will indicate a genetic predisposition to joint diseases, which can lead to the development of pathologies in the future.

A pathological crunch in the joints in most cases indicates joint health problems and can occur for the following reasons:

• The development of inflammatory processes in the joints, as well as diseases that are associated with them. The most common inflammatory joint disease is bursitis. This pathology arises from injury or infection and affects the synovial bag of the joint. Other inflammatory conditions are also common, such as tendonitis, which affects tendons, or systemic joint disorders. The latter include arthritis: infectious, gouty and rheumatoid. Inflammatory processes cause crunching as follows: due to the swelling of the affected tissues, the ligaments of the joint cling to the protuberances of the bones during movement, as a result of which a clicking sound is formed. The pathological nature of the crunch is evidenced by the pain that accompanies each click at the slightest activity.
• Arthrosis. This disease begins to develop either after injury or during the aging process. Arthrosis disrupts the functioning of the inter-articular cartilage, which causes clicks during movement. Osteoarthritis in most cases affects the joints of the fingers, knees, hips and elbows.
• Saline deposits in the synovial (periarticular) bursa. Microcrystalline arthritis can also cause joints to crack. This is primarily due to the fact that, due to inflammation and irritation, the surface of the joint is transformed, becoming more rough. This leads to the appearance of a crunch when moving.
• Injuries. With frequent damage to the same joint or a single, but serious injury, various pathologies can develop. Most often we are talking about the meniscus of the joint, microcracks and other problems that cause crunching and a prerequisite for the development of serious diseases in the future, for example, post-traumatic arthrosis.

Crunch in the knee joint

When it comes to joint crunch, most often it concerns the knee. The fact is that a person is designed in such a way that the maximum load falls on the knee joint. This becomes the reason not only for the rapid wear of the cartilaginous tissues of the knee, but also for a high risk of overloading the joint, its trauma.

The risk group of people who are at risk of injury and injury to the knee are primarily athletes, workers who endure intense physical activity (construction workers, movers, etc.), as well as people leading a sedentary and sedentary lifestyle.

Joint health is ensured precisely by the fact that the loads must be feasible and constant. The problem of excess weight is also important. Obese people should understand that this disease has many direct and indirect effects on the body. Being overweight puts additional stress on the knee joint.

Do not underestimate the role of footwear that a person wears. The uncomfortable position of the leg, which is formed by improperly selected shoes, is not only problems with the feet, but also the possibility of damage to the knee joint.

Crunch in the hip joint

A crunch in the hip joint is most often emitted after a long sitting position. This problem is quite common and occurs most often due to the displacement of one or more cartilages.

A single or rare instance of crunching in the hip joint is normal. However, if the crunch is heard too often and / or is accompanied by swelling, pain, and other alarming symptoms, then you should think about the problem and consult a doctor.

A separate issue is crunching in the hip joint in children. During the formation of bones and cartilage, this is normal, even if the crunch is emitted quite often. But this condition should not continue after the completion of the strengthening of bone and cartilage tissue.

Joint crunch treatment

Treatment for crunch in joints begins with a diagnosis, which takes place in several stages:

• Preliminary examination by a specialist: surgeon and / or orthopedist.
• X-ray of the problem joint.
• Ultrasound examination of tissues adjacent to the joint.
• Computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging.
• Laboratory research. In most cases, they are limited to general analyzes, but additional studies may also be required (for example, in case of suspicion of an infectious nature of the disease).
• Joint puncture test (taken when fluid accumulates).

Modern treatment involves complex therapy in solving the problem of crunching in the joints. Mostly crunching in the joints is a symptom of arthritis or arthrosis. Therefore, the treatment regimen will almost always be the same, but edited according to the individual needs of the patient.

Modern medicine offers the following scheme for the treatment of joint crunch:

1. Medical treatment.

   Therapy involves taking the following medications:

   • Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for internal and external use in the form of tablets and gels, ointments. Medicines are prescribed to relieve pain, inflammation and other symptoms that accompany the disease. The course of taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is prescribed for a period of 10 to 15 days and can be extended by a specialist if necessary.
   • Hondoprotectors are one of the newest medical methods of influencing the restoration of cartilage tissue. The drug consists of glucosamine and chondroitin. The effectiveness of the effect is achieved after taking the drug for 4-5 courses lasting 10 days. Chondoprotectors are prescribed in the form of preparations for oral administration, as well as in the form of local injections into the affected areas.
   • Vitamin complex, useful microelements - especially preparations that stimulate the regeneration of cartilage and bone tissues, such as calcium, zinc, phosphorus, B vitamins, as well as vitamins A and E.
   • Preparations containing hyaluronic acid. This substance can replace the synovial fluid that is produced by the human body. The synovial fluid serves as a natural lubricant that coats and envelops the joints, which prevents them from rubbing off and helps stop crunching during movement.
   • Dietary supplements that stimulate the restoration of cartilage tissue and improve the composition of the synovial fluid, saturating it with amino acids.

On the subject: List of modern drugs and drugs for joints

2. Drug-free treatment. Physiotherapy and assistive devices such as bandages, crutches, etc. form the basis of non-drug treatment.

   The most common non-drug treatments are:

   • Physical therapy is an integral part of joint rehabilitation. Physiotherapy involves the impact on the affected areas with one or more manipulations: shock wave therapy, magnetotherapy, UHF.
   • Manual therapy: healing, relaxing.
   • Reflexology.
   • Vacuum therapy.
   • Physiotherapy exercises, cycling, swimming.
   • Immobilization (immobilization) of the joints, if necessary. Immobilization is carried out by applying bandages, bandages, knee pads.

The drug-free treatment does not end there. There are also many folk remedies that can help cure joint crunch. Besides, it is important to follow your diet. Joint crunching is often caused by excessive salt deposition.

Therefore, it is necessary to normalize nutrition by forming a correct diet:

• Eliminate junk food from your diet as much as possible. Remove everything fried, fatty, smoked, salted and canned.
• The basis of nutrition should be based on dairy and fermented milk products. Cottage cheese, milk, kefir and other products contain a lot of calcium, which strengthens bone and cartilage tissues, contributes to their accelerated rehabilitation.
• Meat and fish dishes also have positive effects on joint health. But it is better to cook such dishes by baking in the oven, boiling or steaming. Frying and smoking is strictly not recommended.
• Vegetables and fruits contain a lot of vitamins and useful microelements, and therefore are an indispensable component of a proper diet.
• Nuts, natural spices, herbs also have a beneficial effect on the condition of bones, cartilage and tendons.

Folk remedies

Folk remedies can be a great addition to traditional methods of treating crunchy joints. But it is worth remembering that traditional medicine should take place in the treatment of a patient only after consulting a doctor, since improperly used means can aggravate the problem and cause allergic reactions.

Traditional medicine recipes to combat joint crunch:

1. Compresses on the affected areas:

   • 1 recipe for the preparation of the solution: pour a glass of bran into 0.5 liters of milk and let it brew. When the bran is swollen, the solution can be used. Apply a compress to the desired area and do not remove for an hour.
   • Recipe 2: squeeze juice from 1 orange and mix it with 100 g of vegetable oil. Dip gauze in the solution and apply a compress to the problem area. Wrap with cling film and leave for half an hour.
2. The bath is suitable if the knee, fingers or toes, elbow joint crunches. In this case, you need to steam the problem joint in a salt bath with the addition of baking soda before bedtime.

3. Folk remedies for internal reception:

   • Tincture of fir cones on water: pour 0.5 liters of boiling water over 2-3 cones and let it brew for 10-12 hours. Take 1 glass daily.
   • Alcoholic tinctures of saber and comfrey can be purchased at any pharmacy. You can prepare an aqueous tincture on one of these herbs yourself at home. You need to take it according to the recommendations on the package.

On the subject: Other folk remedies

Timely diagnosis of the problem due to which there is a crunch in the joints, as well as complex treatment, can help and prevent the disease from developing to a severe stage. And constant feasible physical activity, combined with proper nutrition, will strengthen not only joints, but also human health in general.

Author of the article: Kaplan Alexander Sergeevich | Orthopedist

Education: diploma in the specialty "General Medicine" received in 2009 at the Medical Academy. I. M. Sechenov. In 2012 completed postgraduate studies in Traumatology and Orthopedics at the City Clinical Hospital named after Botkin at the Department of Traumatology, Orthopedics and Disaster Surgery.