Categories

Symptoms and Causes of Knee Pain

Popping or grating noises

Depending on the cause of your knee pain, you may hear popping, creaking, or grating noises when you use your knee. A pop sound, for example, is characteristic of meniscus tears [2], although this is more common at the moment of the tear.

Crunching noises sometimes accompany knee pain. This is usually due to an underlying problem that affects the cartilage. The crunch happens because the cartilage at the knee is becoming rough, so the bones can no longer slide over each other with ease. The creaking or crunching noises you may hear are known as knee crepitus [3]. The noise is often more pronounced when you bend your knees or rise from a sitting position.