Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Knee Crepitus

My knees make noises. I can really hear it when going up stairs. It's been going on for years. Some web sites describe it as a "rice krispies in milk" noise. That's pretty accurate.

My left knee, where I had a surgical ACL repair done six years ago, is no worse than my right knee.

I take Glucosamine and some of those other fancy joint supplements. I lift to strengthen the muscles around my knees. I change my shoes at lower mileage than I've done in the past.

I do try very hard to avoid anti-inflammatories, except for a tiny "heart dose" (81mg) of aspirin daily.

My knees still creak.

They don't hurt.

They just make funny noises.

A search of the web shows all kinds of results for knee crepitus. No one seems to think it's a fatal disease. Some people think it's not anything at all to worry about. Most people are in the middle somewhere.

Last night, I decided that three pairs of running shoes with 200-250 miles each were done. I typically run only 300-350 miles per pair of shoes, but now, I'm tossing them even earlier.

On Friday night, when EMS has their 20% off day, I'll go get some more shoes. Maybe the new shoes will make my knees be quieter. Probably not, though.

More likely, I'll just keep on running and skiing until someone complains that my knees are so loud that my knees are ruining his or her day. Then, I'll slink home and retire and throw out all of my exercise-related gear. And I'll sulk.

But for now, I've got WS to worry about, creaky knees be damned.

This morning, I had a very nice cruise-control six miler. Tonight will be six more, with two miles of tempo.

Onward.

2 comments:

Hoarse Whisperer said...

I have the exact same symptoms in both knees. Absolutely no pain. Just that gentle crunching sound. When I put my hands over my knees as I come out of a squat, I can feel something like paper smoothing out. But this only occurs when I maintain a squat on the floor (which I sometimes do instead of sitting on a chair) for a few seconds or more and then come out of it. When I deep squat big weights (I go up to 315 Lbs on the back squat) at the gym, I don't hear this noise. Knee feels quiet and silky smooth at all other times. Only supplement I take is 3 to 12 grams of Fish Oil every day.

Anonymous said...

I do try very hard to avoid anti-inflammatories

Total rube here. Could you expound on that? Thanks!