I always heard of the expression “my joints are creaking” but I didn’t realize it was a literally true one!
Just now, while putting some books onto the top shelf of my bookcase, I heard a strange sound from my right elbow. It sounded like knuckles cracking, but quieter and more, well, gritty sounding.
I went into a quiet room and experimented lifting my right forearm in various ways. It only happens when I left my forearm from a straight to 90-degree bent position, and only if my fist is clenched. It doesn’t happen if my palm is open or relaxed. My left arm has no such thing going on.
This is a bit alarming, as I have been doing concentration curls with barbells as part of my weight training regimen over the past 6 months, and have noticed my right arm not keeping up with my left arm’s development. My right arm sort of “flattened out” in strength about 2 months ago compared to my left.
I’ve been writing this off as due to my being left-handed while still primarily in a fat loss program (i.e., being neutral or in a small calorie deficit nutritionally), but now I’m worried I’m broken in some way.
I have a physical checkup appointment with the doctor next week, I guess I’ll bring it up then, but does anybody have any feedback on whether or not this is a genuine cause for alarm?
IANAD but I am a 36 year old man with similar sounds from my knees. I’m trying to remember exactly what my doctor said but it’s basically age, use, wear and tear, sounds of ligaments sliding over bones and instead of totally smooth functioning some of the movement comes in “hops” where Part A slides over Part B and at some point it pops over something and you get that little cracking noise. He had a number of recommendations including:
Some stretching and strengthening exercises.
Go easy on the affected joints.
If it hurts, stop!
OTOH there was no:
Cease all activity.
Schedule joint replacement surgery tomorrow.
So whatever your doc says for you, but in my case it’s more cautionary than immediate danger. I’m not 20 any more so I can’t beat myself up like I used to.
Your form on the concentration curls might also be a contributing factor. Many people support their elbow against their leg when doing concentration curls and this adds stress to the joint. Concentration curls should be done with the arm hanging freely between the legs like seen here.
Also, be sure to lower the weight all the way to bottom and relax the biceps completely and let the weight stretch your arm at the end of each rep. This will strengthen the joint and research has shown that flexing a stretched muscle leads to greater hypertrophy.
Don’t be surprised if this change in form results in fewer reps or lighter poundages for you. That’s actually a good thing. Proper form usually makes exercises more difficult.
Take it once or twice a day and within one week you’ll be feeling like a new person. About four years ago I could hardly walk because my knee-joints were wearing out, but now all is fine (in that regard).
Got a cite for this? I asked my doctor about it and he said “It may help, there’s no conclusive evidence that it does, but it won’t hurt”. I took the stuff for months with no noticeable changes. It’s nasty, comes in big horsepills and since it’d didn’t help me I stopped taking it. All of the bottles of the stuff I’ve ever looked at said you’d have to keep taking it for months before it would have any impact…certainly not within a few days!
This is the crux of the whole glucosamine deal. Some people swear by it. Others see no effect. It’s easy to write off the people who swear by it for a number of reasons (placebo effect, etc.) but there is also the fact that people react to the same thing in different ways. There are “non-responders” for many treatments and for glucosamine, they may be the larger majority. Or it may be altogether worthless.
Quackwatch has a duscussion of the various arguments.
Here’s an abstract for a recently published paper that weighs in favor of glucosamine sulfate at what’s usually marketed as a “triple-strength” dose (1500 mg daily). Just another bit of information in addition to the discussion in daffyduck’s Quackwatch link (love that, it’s so appropriate ).
FWIW, I had a lot of trouble with creaking and grinding in my knees by my late 30s, the end result of some ski injuries from my early 20s and, later on, lots of hiking while carrying heavy packs over uneven terrain. Nothing like hearing your knees ratcheting while you’re climbing the stairs. :eek: It was also very difficult to sit for long periods with bent knees; plane trips were torture, because I could rarely stretch out enough to get relief. I started taking glucosamine, 1500 mg daily, and after about 3 months of taking it I was able to sit through a cross-country flight without pain. So I guess I am one of the fortunate ones for whom it does have an effect. (I discussed it later with my doctor, and her attitude was much the same as Valgard’s. Btw, the stuff I take is Trader Joe’s brand, which is less expensive than most other supplements I’ve seen.)
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