Why Are My Joints So Loud Now? The Popping And Cracking, Explained

It starts out subtly with a gray hair here and there, a dad grunt involuntarily leaving your lips when you get up from sitting on the floor. Maybe you can’t eat spicy food without tummy trouble anymore, or your hangovers last for days when you used to be able to rally within hours. You’re getting older, and nothing makes you feel like you have one foot in the grave more than when your skeleton snaps, crackles, and pops every time you stand up. If you’ve been thinking to yourself lately, “Why are my joints so loud now?”, you’re not alone. This is an age-related change that comes for us all, experts say, and it doubles as a reminder that what we do now can influence our joint health and mobility for the rest of our lives (no pressure).

Why do our joints crack and pop more as we age?

Joints can crack and pop at any age because of something called synovial fluid.

“It’s a lubrication fluid that helps protect cartilage in our joints. And sometimes that fluid can have gas bubbles in it, whether it's oxygen or nitrogen,” says John Lahr, PA, a certified physician assistant at Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute. “And the way I like to describe it is similar to when you open a Coke can and get that pop and that sizzle; that's exactly the same thing as sometimes those air bubbles when the joints move, they pop and they make that noise. So popping and cracking in and of itself isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's actually a fairly normal occurrence.”

However, once most people hit their 30s, it’s likely they will begin to hear a lot more pops, snaps, and cracks from their joints than they used to. Why? The honest answer is: that’s just the sound of your skeleton getting older.

“As we get older, our tendons and ligaments can shift slightly and they kind of slide over the bones as we move, and sometimes that can make a cracking noise. And then just kind of normal wear and tear changes as we get older,” says Dr. Stephanie Ribelli, DO, board-certified rheumatologist at Cleveland Clinic. “There's a cartilage cushion in between our joints, and as time goes on, that gradually changes and gets a little bit smaller. The joints just don't glide quite as silently as they used to; that’s another common reason for the sound.

Age-related sarcopenia, or loss of muscle mass, also contributes to a noisier skeleton, Lahr says. “As you lose that muscular strength, the muscles are what really provide the stability for the joints. When it's going through this range of motion and things like that, the muscles are what protect it, what draw the two bones together so that the movement is very tight and concise. As we age and we lose that muscular strength and that stability, the joints really start to become very loose.”

Ribelli says she often sees new patients who have come in to say their knee now makes a weird sound every time they do squats, for example. She is generally their first bearer of some bad news: “Unfortunately, this is just what happens as we get older.”

When is popping in your joints a bad sign?

OK, so maybe hearing from your skeleton more often isn’t generally a concern. When do pops and cracks in your joints warrant a call to the doctor?

“The key question that you have to ask yourself is if it hurts,” says Ribelli. “If there’s pain or swelling or any sort of limitation, then it’s something that we want to get checked out. But if it doesn't hurt, if you just hear a crack or a pop when you're squatting or standing or reaching, normal. If you purposely try to crack your hand knuckles and it pops and it feels a little bit better, completely normal. And if there's just noise when you're walking up the stairs, totally normal as long as it doesn't hurt.”

Anytime there’s pain, swelling, or a locking sensation in the joint, it’s time to get it checked out, Lahr agrees. This is especially true if your daily activity is limited by the joint, or if you suspect you injured it. In other words, if you’re playing pickleball, stop and turn on the court, then feel a pop and some pain, call that in.

Having healthy joints as you age starts now.

I know, I know, you don’t need any more items added to your to-do list. Alas, prevention is key when it comes to keeping our joints healthy as we get older. But if you’re someone who works out regularly, you’re already doing the work.

Weight training, walking, pilates, and yoga are all beneficial forms of exercise for your joints’ health, Ribelli says. It’s especially important for women to maintain a regular strength-training regimen, Lahr says, as they tend to experience more significant loss of both muscle and bone density with age.

Staying well-hydrated matters more for your joint health than you might think as well. “All of our joint surfaces, the cartilage, the synovial fluids, all these things function on a water-based solution, and that hydration is extremely important. One of the unfortunate effects of aging is that we lose a lot of that subcuticular fat that really protects some of our surfaces, and a lot of that unfortunately is tied to water loss as well. So that maintaining hydration becomes even that much more important as we age,” says Lahr.

So, drink up and do your curls. Take your silly little walks. Every single time, you’re investing a little more in your ability to be pain-free and independent in your old age. And then just... try not to think about approaching your old age.