Joint pops, cracks when you practice Yoga or during a Thai massage. Should you worry?

It always puts a smile on my face. A beginning Thai Massage student is giving a treatment and performing a hip stretch or another joint mobilization, and all of a sudden, there is a loud popping sound. The student gets a big scare, looks at me anxiously, and asks, “Did I do something wrong?” I say, “I don’t know,” turn to the student who is receiving the massage, and ask, “Can you still move your hip?” She says yes. Then I look back at the therapist and smile, “Well, I think we are lucky this time!”

Of course, this is just a joke. Normally, when a joint pops, cracks, or makes a noise, there is absolutely nothing to worry about. Joints simply make sounds! However, there is a massive misunderstanding about joint popping. A lot of people feel that a joint should never pop and that it is dangerous. Hopefully, this blog post can shed a bit of light on the topic and take away the misconceptions and fear around bodily cracks and pops.

First, let’s state the golden rule:

If you experience a joint noise that is accompanied by pain, swelling, or an acute injury, you should see a medical professional to have the joint evaluated. However, if your joint noise is pain-free and asymptomatic (which the vast majority of bodily joint noises are), there is absolutely no reason for concern.

Crepitus is the medical term that refers to joint noises. Examples of joint crepitus can include clicking, popping, snapping, clunking, and more. As I stated before, most of the time, it is entirely harmless.

This is a question that I get very often from yoga students and Thai Massage clients alike. People tend to get worried when their bodies start making strange noises: “For sure there must be something wrong with my knee, because last week it did not pop!” Sometimes this fear is accidentally encouraged by massage therapists, yoga teachers, and bodyworkers who claim that popping indicates a structural dysfunction, a weakness, an instability, or stiffness—and in the worst cases, telling clients their joints are degenerating.

I remember that my mother used to say, “Do not crack your knuckles because you will get arthritis.” I am sorry, Mom, but this is just not true! Let’s look at what clinical science actually says.

What Does Science Say About Cracking Joints?

Just as every individual is different, the same goes for joint cavitation. Some bodies naturally crack more easily than others, but that does not mean there is a problem with a body that noises more frequently (as long as it isn’t accompanied by pain or swelling). There might even be a clinical case to be made that a body that cracks smoothly is actually healthier!

While the exact physiological reason behind the clicking or popping of joints is still not 100% solved, there is strong scientific agreement that anatomical structures (like tendons moving over bones) making contact can create the sound, as can the rapid formation or collapse of tiny air bubbles within the synovial joint cavities [Ref].

There is a fantastic study conducted on the clicking and popping of knees where, in a population of 250 individuals with completely healthy knees, a staggering 99% had knees that naturally made sounds. That is how common knee noises are! Ultimately, no correlation was found between unhealthy knees and clicking sounds [Ref].

On the contrary, the data suggests that knees making certain noises are actually healthier. The idea is that there is a specific type of knee sound that occurs strictly in joints that are highly mobile and well-lubricated by synovial fluid. As a joint becomes arthritic and starts to lose its natural mobility, this type of crepitus actually decreases. So, when this sound is completely absent, it can sometimes be a sign of an unhealthy joint with decreased joint lubrication—not the other way around! [Ref].

While I used the example of the knee here, it is exactly the same for your other joints. For instance, a popping of the hips is normally the harmless result of either the psoas tendon moving smoothly across a bony prominence on the front of the pelvis, or the iliotibial (IT) band moving over the greater trochanter of the femur. Again, this is nothing to worry about. To quote a great medical insight:

“Snapping caused by the iliopsoas tendon… is a common incidental observation that often requires little treatment on the part of the clinician other than assurance to the patient that this finding is not a harbinger of future problems” [Evaluation and Management of the Snapping Iliopsoas Tendon (Byrd 2006)].

So, the next time a student or a Thai Massage client asks you about a pop or crack in their body, you can confidently tell them not to worry. Reassure them that there is nothing wrong with them and that their joints are simply normal and healthy. Of course, always remember the exception: if the popping is ever accompanied by swelling, bruising, or pain, refer them to a medical specialist.

I hope this explanation helps take away the fear of joint sounds in your practice! Feel free to leave a comment or share your stories below.

If you want to master how to safely perform deep alignments yourself, we offer an advanced training program covering these methods: Advanced Stretching and Joint Mobilizations Course.

Warmly,

Remco