cracking sound of knee joints

My knee joints are giving cracking sound when i get up or bend down. but there is no pain. the sound is so loud everyone sitting aside looks at me. basically i am player of football, volleyball, cricket and karate. please advise me what to do and to whom consult?
best regads,

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

The various possibilities for popping,crackling joints are a cartilage tear that is rubbing with the knee joint,arthrosis or degeneration of the joint and arthritis esp osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis(but they are associated with pain).More harmless is clicking of knee joint due to relatively lax joint capsule, that allows more than a usual amount of movement. Try stretching your joints if you don’t like cracking them as often and pls do stretches that stretch the ligaments around those joints.Another reason of crackling knee joint particularly in athletes is problem in alignment and training, and overuse of the joint.

Otherwise the exact cause can be found out only after x-ray or blood tests.Pls consult an orthopedician or rheumatologist for that.

Hope it helps.Take care and pls do keep me posted on how you are doing.