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Noisy Knees: Should We Worry About Knee Crepitus?

September 10, 2025 Comments Off on Noisy Knees: Should We Worry About Knee Crepitus?

Dear Readers,

Does your knee click, pop, or crunch when you move? Many of us have wondered, “Is that normal—or is something wrong?”

A recent systematic review and meta-analysis in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) has looked at how common noisy knees (knee crepitus) are—and what they mean.

The Key Facts

  • Knee crepitus is very common, even among healthy adults.
  • The presence of knee crepitus is associated with more than a three-fold increased odds of radiographic osteoarthritis (OA) and several imaging-based structural OA features.
  • But—and this is important—crepitus alone is not enough to diagnose OA. Many people with noisy knees don’t have pain or functional problems.

Should You Be Concerned?

Most knee noises are harmless—often due to air bubbles in the joint fluid, normal tissue friction, or tendon movement.
What matters more is:

  • Are you experiencing pain, swelling, or instability?
  • Is knee function or strength affected?

If not, those noises are likely just part of how your body moves.

What We Believe at HealthPlus

“Noisy knees are not broken knees.”
Our role is to help you stay strong, active, and confident. If you do have symptoms, early advice and rehabilitation can help you avoid unnecessary investigations and keep you moving pain-free.

Happy moving,
The HealthPlus Team

Reference:
Couch JL, King MG, De Oliveira Silva D, Whittaker JL, Bruder AM, Serighelli F, Kaplan S, Culvenor AG. Noisy knees – knee crepitus prevalence and association with structural pathology: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med. 2025 Jan 2;59(2):126-132. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2024-108866. PMID: 39375004.
Read the BJSM blog summary here.