Hi,
Thanks for writing in. History of fall could cause a suspicion of any fracture or ligament tear or lax ligaments. But in case of fracture, it should heal with 4-6 weeks preferrably, so you shouldn't be experiencing the popping even now.
I think it could most probably be lax ligaments. Get a physical examination of the knee done by your doctor and follow his advise.
Until then abstain from exercises, and take rest.
Best.
Thank you for responding. I am planning on calling my ortho soon. I've noticed that this popping started around a week after I took a fall on the ice last January, and has not stopped. It's not painful, however, it does get sore by the end of the day from all of the popping. It doesn't prevent me from doing any excersise, but I do wonder if using a stepper or leg weights can cause more harm?
Hi,
How are you? Popping and snapping within the knee is quite common, and often not a symptom of any particular problem. When the pops or snaps are painless, there is usually no problem. But in case if it is associated with pain then you need to be nvestigated.
Popping or clicking with pain can happen due to anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACL) or discoid lateral meniscus. The ACL injury is a problem because this instability can make sudden, pivoting movements difficult, and it may make the knee more prone to developing arthritis and cartigae tears.
Symptoms which you have mentioned do not seem to be significant and can be considered as normal. But in case you want to confirm then I would suggest you to visit an orthopaedician for physical examination of the knee, with the help of lachman's test, pivot shift test and anterior drawer test which would confirm, abnormality if any.
In case no abnormality is found on physical examination then an X-ray and MRI of the knee joint would help in making the diagnosis.
All the best.
sounds like cartilage isn't doing it's job