Creaky Knees

Do your knees make you sound? If there is no pain involved, your creaky knees may be a sign of some benign temporary mechanical maladjustment. For example, the soft tissue in the joint (the patella) is slightly misaligned and rubbing up againt neary tissue. Or it may be that these elastic like soft tissues, such as the tendons and ligaments, are snapping back around the knees after momentarily sliding out of place. Or, similar to what happens when crackling the knuckles, tiny gas bubbles normally found in the synovial fluid that lubricates the joints, pop out.

But noisy knees can also signal the onset of Osteoarthritis of the knees. Knee Osteoarthritis and other knee problems are more prevalent in women than men and tends to increase around menopause. There are some evidence that the drop in estrogen is to blame.

Here are some other differences between Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis:

• Rheumatoid Arthritis usually affects joints symmetrically. For example, both hands or both knees are likely to be affected. Osteoarthritis usually affects only one side at a time.
• Rheumatoid Arthritis can cause fatigue and low grade faver. Osteoarthritis does not.
• Osteoarthritis causes joint and muscle pain that worsens as the days activities go on. Rheumatoid Arthritis tends to be equally bad throughout the day.