cracking sounds at the joints

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

 

My name is Selver, and I am from Istanbul, Turkey.

I would like to receive an information on how I can get rid of the annoying cracking sounds I have at some of the joints in my body while I am performing some of the asanas. For instance, when I extend and flex my ankles, or when I extend my arms out to the side in line with the shoulders and start rotating the palms around, my shoulders hunching forward and up towards the ears also make that kind of sound. Even sometimes I have it my hip joints, too.

I would be happy, if you show me a way to "heal" my joints and to make them slide and move easier when I use them.

 

In health,

Selver

[Guest guest]

I don't think you will find that you are able to 'heal' your joints

because there is nothing wrong with them!

What you are hearing is the classic joint cracking, typical of a vata

constitution. You either have cracking joints or you don't and they

get worse with age.

I now can get my whole spine to crack vertabrae by vertebrae ! Pop,

pop, pop, all the way from the neck to the bottom, in certain asanas.

It can be quite loud too.

 

Putting ghee in your diet, and sometimes using lots of oil in your

diet, is said to help but I've never found it so. Some days are more

noisy than others, that's all!

 

Get used to it - its the way you are made! There is no harm in the

popping, although I know it sounds very dramatic. The synovial fluid

and cartilege are made for it, and I don't believe that you will

suffer any long term effects. Some people think it leads to arthritis

but I've seen no evidence of that.

 

Another symptom of vata is getting toe shred - Do you get that too?

Its when strips of skin peel off your big toe, and can get really bad

and bloody. Again, nothing to be done although oiling your toes at

night can help prevent it.

 

 

 

ashtanga yoga, Selver SENTURK <selverrb wrote:

>

> Hi All,

>

> My name is Selver, and I am from Istanbul, Turkey.

> I would like to receive an information on how I can get rid of the

annoying cracking sounds I have at some of the joints in my body while

I am performing some of the asanas. For instance, when I extend and

flex my ankles, or when I extend my arms out to the side in line with

the shoulders and start rotating the palms around, my shoulders

hunching forward and up towards the ears also make that kind of sound.

Even sometimes I have it my hip joints, too.

> I would be happy, if you show me a way to "heal" my joints and to

make them slide and move easier when I use them.

>

> In health,

> Selver

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Selver

 

How often do you practice? 3 times a week? 6 times a week? It would be my opinion that if you practice about 6 times a week, you should not hear too many cracking noises. I don't think they are cause for alarm. There are gases trapped in our muscles that are released when we stretch. You should concentrate more on your breadth. Nearly everyone I practice with makes some cracking noises, particularly at the beginning of the practice, when the body is warming up, as for example in the triangle poses. Once the body is warm, the noises go away. Also, I've noticed that people who practice only once a week tend to make more of these cracking noises, perhaps because they are not getting the benefit of stretching as often. You could try doing a few warmup poses prior to practice, maybe poses similar to those that are giving you trouble. You could make sure you're practicing in a warm room, and that you have taken a warm shower before practice, to have warmed your body. I just said "warm" three times. Maybe there is a clue in that word.

 

Cheers

Arturo

San Francisco

[Guest guest]

Hi Selver,

I also crack a lot and have asked several doctors and body workers

about it. They have all said it is not an injury. I have actually

found in my practice that in some areas it has increased as my range

of motion has increased... for example my back now cracks in

parsvakonasana when it did not a couple years ago. I also read

somewhere that it is more comon with hypermobile joints... a genetic

thing...

Jenny

[Guest guest]

www.wenasanyoga.com

[Guest guest]

Hi Selver,

 

I agree with alot of the things that have already been

said. The popping sound can be coming from the

release of trapped gas in the muscle attachments

(tendons), ligaments, or in the joint itself. If this

is the case it will pop once, and if you do the

movement again it will not pop the second time.

 

 

Some people have a genetic predisposition that leads to

hypermobile joints where they slip in and out of place

easily. This is more common with a pitta

constitution. If this is the case, be careful not to

force the adjustment or do it too many times in a day

or else it will create what they refer to as a

"pattern of reoccurring movement" making it easier to

slip out again the next time. Stregthening the muscles that surround the joint would help

to stabilize it as long as it is not a tendonal issue.

 

Those with more of a vatta constitution are more prone

to tight connective tissue such as tendons and

ligaments. The snapping noise can be also be tight

tendons rolling across each other like guitar strings.

If this is the case the popping noise will happen

several times in a row until the tendon is opened up

with increased blood and prana flow. In a case like

this holding a pose longer where you can breathe

easily and rest into it can help open and lengthen

chronically tight connective tissue.

 

Patricia