Is It Normal For Your Knees To Crack As You Age?

Hearing cracking or popping from any part of your body is alarming, but many people report that their knees, in particular, make these sounds regularly. Think about it: Have you ever been in a low-squat position or sitting on the ground just to notice some cracking sounds erupt from your knees as you stand up?

Turns out, this is a pretty common occurrence, especially as we get older. But is it just age that causes this, or is there something deeper brewing? At what point ― if any ― should you be concerned?

We asked experts about knee cracking, and their insight was pretty surprising. Here’s what you should know:

In most cases, a popping or cracking sound from your knee is nothing to worry about.

“Everyone’s knees crack and pop, and [this] can be normal and doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong with the knee,” Daniel Wiznia, an orthopedic surgeon at Yale School of Medicine and co-director of the avascular necrosis program, told HuffPost.

This is particularly true if you’re not struggling or in pain when it happens. “Some painless popping that doesn’t affect motion or function is usually not considered serious,” Constance Chu, a professor of orthopedic surgery at Stanford University, told HuffPost via email.

There are many potential reasons why your knee makes a cracking sound, both experts said. According to Wiznia, the main cause of this pain-free clicking is something called cavitation. “Cavitation is when you have two surfaces form a vacuum, and then they’re snapped apart,” he said. The sound is “produced as the two joint surfaces snap apart and the joint fluid forms almost like a little gas, and that makes the sound.”

Another explanation could have to do with how your kneecap tracks. “The kneecap, as it tracks on