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Joint cracking...

I have CD, I notice that particularly in my ankles and knees. When I go to stand up and walk they pop like crazy for 3-5 times before quieting down. Which tells me somehow I have a lot of air between the joints. Put my hand down on my kneecaps I can feel the joint popping in and out of place when i bend it and sensitivity just along the sides of the joint.

My Gastro told me unless it gets worse, he won't run tests. Which really isn't what he normally does (seemed odd to me) as usually he jumps at a chance to put me through a test. My primary doctor just told me my knees/ankles are misaligned and that's why my joints are popping and hurt. However, he didn't refer me to a chiropractor which would of seemed logical with that diagnosis.

Just wondering if this is how other CD sufferers started with joint pain or if its not normal.
 

forum contributor

Captain Obvious
Hi Hotshot, and welcome!
I have a lot of joint pain, and my knees have always been a problem. I have chondromalacia patella, where my knees aren't in alignment or "grooving" correctly. You may want to look that up. It's painful and life-long, but I've found that taking something like Move Free helps.
 
Hmmm. My fingers have always cracked, and one wrist and ankle has done it for a number of years. But the recent addition has been my jaw. It locks up and then releases with an almighty crack that other people can hear, and wince at, but the pain is the worst I have ever felt. It sort of bounces around my head between both ears. Most odd. Luckily it goes as quickly as it happens. But oh boy it hurts! :voodoo:
 
I've got a "clicky" jaw too. I had it x-rayed when I went for orthodontic treatmetn recently and luckily there's not arthritic degeneration, but the guy said it was like a misalignment, like when people pop their fingers (I can't do that). A lot of people have had issue with arthritis, which you can probably do a search for. I had osteoarthritis in my left hip since the age of 16 and had it replaced a couple of years ago... never knew if it was related to the crohns or to the heavy dose of pred I had at the age of 16
 
Yeah, I came across a post somewhere here about Crohn's arthritis which rang a few horribly familar bells when I looked it up. Neck also grates like it's got gravel in and small of my back aches. Oh yes, and I was reminded this morning of my hip which occasionally does similar things to my jaw. Ho hum. :(
 
I hope I wont need a replacement! My aches seem to be less intrusive if I go for a walk (I love walking in the hills - but live in the fens. Doh!) but if I dont for a week or so, I seem to crash psychologically very badly. And my friendly psychologist chappy still hasn't got back to me.

Arggh! I need a job, I need my head in a fit state to get/hold a job, and I need enough time to still go walking and get/be fit enough to go on another mountaineering course in the winter and.... and.... this isn't helping the OP. Oops!
 
No... my left hip was seriously painful from the age of 16 onwards... yours doesn't sound like that. I used to have "flares" when I could hardly walk... but in between times I did all kinds of active stuff for years, including running (probably not a good idea), martial arts (very good, as it involved lots of stretching) and diving (non-weight bearing) as well as lot of walking in the hills. I always had issues with flexibility... so stuff like yoga was always good. No-one ever explained why it seemed to attack my left hip in particular. Yours sound more like the pattern of "crohns aching joints" which a lot of other people seem to get. I'm sure exercise is a good thing (for general state of well-being too)... I wouldn't book any joint replacements just yet!
 
I dont intend to for a very long time! I did have one period where I could hardly walk but that was when I was given PPI's - the meds that turn your stomach acid off, for a stomach ulcer. It made all my joints hurt like hell. So the doc also gave me Diclofenac... which I suspect is where the Crohn's story probably started out.
 
Location
Wisconsin
Beth -- My neck sounds like it has gravel in it as well!!!! When I turn my head to the left and right (like shaking my head no). I've had it for quite a while now, but didn't think I would be arthritis. Hmmm......just what I need. My right knee cracks a lot when I walk up stairs. I talked to my primary doc about it and he said it as called runner's knee and that stretching and making sure my knee was in-line while going up the stairs should help. Runner's knee. HA! I don't run. Anyway, the stretching and alignment did not help. Most of the time it's not painful, so I'm not worrying about it. Also, my jaw pops as well, but I have TMJ (Temporal Mandibular Joint disfunction/disorder). I don't relish the idea of having to deal with arthritis on top of everything else though.

Oh yeah - lots of achy back, especially the lower back.
 
I too have achey knees.... stupid knees....
Had physio for a bit, which helped, it all focused on the muscles... around the knee...
I find walking helps a lot...
 
I get much more achy when i'm in a flare, no doubt about it! I agree with Katiepede - exercise! I walk like nuts when I'm feeling cracky and it seems to loosen up the joints.

Now that I'm on pred, too, my bones across my entire body seem to crack just by moving. I was doing back stretches earlier, since it has been flaring up, and instead it was my knees, shoulders, and arms doing all the cracking!

I know that I have OA (osteoarthritis), wonder if it's common with IBDs?
 
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