Why does my knee click?

Symptoms:

You’re in your mid-60s, you’ve got a swollen, painful knee that occasionally clicks when you bend or straighten it, causing difficulty walking. It’s getting painful even at rest. You’re overweight.

You’re in your late 50s, your knee is stiff and clicks sometimes, you have a past history of a knee injury while playing sport, or a fracture involving the knee joint. Your knee is very painful and will sometimes lock, pop or click, making walking and weight-bearing uncomfortable. It can be swollen too.

It could be: Osteoarthritis,

where the cartilage on the ends of the bones becomes worn, rough and inflamed so it can’t move smoothly, causing pain and swelling of your knee.

Arthritis of the joint

as the result of your past injury. Most serious sports injuries go on to cause arthritis with time.

A tear in one of the ligaments

that stabilises the knee joint and controls backward, forward and twisting motions. Often it’s the anterior or posterior cruciate ligament that will tear.

Stop it:

Take painkillers and/ or NSAIDs, see your doctor for X-rays and specialist treatment. Lose some weight if you can.

Special knee supports can help, as does physiotherapy, so see your doctor who will refer you to a specialist in physical medicine.

Take painkillers or NSAIDs, wear a knee brace for exercise and do muscle strengthening exercises. Ask your doctor if you should see an orthopaedic surgeon for an assessment.