Shoulder bones make a sound when you move them

People are very concerned about their physical condition, and any small problem in their body will be clearly discovered. Those people sometimes find that their bones make noises when they move their shoulders. When this happens, many people think they have a fracture or something is wrong, but this is a relatively common bone slippage phenomenon. So besides the Washington phenomenon that causes your bones to make noises, what other reasons can cause your shoulders to make noises when you move?

This is a normal physiological sound.

Just like when we were kids and watched Hong Kong gangster movies, the protagonists would often crack their fingers. The crackling sounds you hear when moving your shoulders and squatting are normal physiological phenomena caused by the vibration of gas in the joint cavity.

There is a space between normal joints throughout the body, called the joint cavity. Although it is called a cavity, the space inside is actually filled with liquid. Under normal circumstances, the two sides of the joint are sucked together by the liquid to ensure that our joints work lubricatedly, so that we can do actions such as holding chopsticks, holding handrails, and squatting.

When a joint is stretched or broken, a distinct space appears in the middle of the joint cavity. The surrounding gas rapidly diffuses into the cavity and, together with the liquid, makes a crisp sound. This is the clicking sound we hear.

Not all clicking noises are normal

To be considered physiological snapping, the following four conditions must be met at the same time:

It only occurs when the joint is subjected to sudden traction or flexion;

Before the snap, the joint must have a certain rest period;

The sound is crisp, single and non-repetitive;

There is pain or discomfort, and often a sense of relief after the snap; of course, sometimes the pain or discomfort may not be obvious.

If any of the above four conditions is not met, it is pathological clicking.

Some common pathological clicking sounds and possible diseases:

Pathological snapping of the shoulder joint - usually caused by trauma, often muscle strain;

Pathological clicking in the elbow joint - it may be due to bone dislocation or too flexible joint;

Pathological ankle popping - the Achilles tendon is subjected to excessive force or the tendon is damaged;

Pathological clicking in the knee joint – often cartilage tear;

Pathological jaw clicking - often caused by temporomandibular joint problems or teeth grinding.

If I hear a crackling sound, does that mean I don't need treatment?

As mentioned before, if the clicking is physiological, no special treatment is needed. If it is pathological, it needs early treatment.

Take the common knee popping as an example. We doctors generally call it "popping knee". It may be physiological popping. Due to lack of exercise, there is too little fluid in the joint cavity, so the popping is easy to hear; it may also be caused by multiple injuries to the knee joint.

If you can't judge it yourself, you should let a professional doctor check it out. If the doctor can determine that there is no joint disease after examination, then it is just a simple popping knee. Simple popping knee does not cause any pain and has little impact on the human body, so no special treatment is required.

However, if you feel obvious pain when squatting or doing other movements, it may be pathological snapping knee, among which meniscus injury is the most common cause.

At this time, you need to go to the hospital as soon as possible and let the doctor make a judgment based on your medical history, symptoms, and imaging examinations such as X-rays or MRI.