Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Why do my joints crack so much?

Hi my Dr. recently told me I have A.S. incase any of you didn't already know from my prier post. I am still waiting on the rheumatologist appointment next month. Anyways, my joints in my elbows, wrists, hips, ankles, sometimes my back always crack and snap. This happens most often when I get up from a relaxed state and getting out of bed. Are these symptoms of A.S.? Is this common?

i don't crack any more or less now that i've developed spondy than i ever did before. i don't think cracking means much. that's just my opinion though.

my neck does "grind" more but that's probably more the degenerative disc disease than inflammation. though the inflammation may have sped that up a bit.

i find that when my joints are particularly inflamed, they actually don't "crack" and when the inflammation starts to go down, then they will crack or pop more.

Hi, I have cracked and popped in my knees for years now. But recently have also started to crack in both ankles. I have little faith in my knees and ankles, and at times am unsteady on my feet.
Also When I turn my head my neck makes an awful, sickly grinding sound and if you put your hand on my neck you can feel the grinding and grateing.
My 14 yo son often jokes about the noise my ankles make now. You dont even have to be in the same room as me to be able to hear them.

Cheers Carol

I have no idea if it has to do with AS but I have snapped, crackled, and popped like crazy since my AS started and I've noticed an increase when I have my worst symptoms. Mainly my knees, wrists, ankles, and back. I even once had a boss who commented saying he had never heard someone my age (22) crack so much when they moved. Every morning when I wake up and go to make my first attempt at sitting up my lower back makes a loud crack. I mentioned this to my rheumy once and he said he hears that from a lot of his AS patients. In my opinion it's related, but who knows.

Hi Ryan, my back, ribs, neck and shoulders have been doing the snap, crackle, pop for years now, I asked my ortho and my rheumy what's causing it and both of them have said it's due to the inflammation caused by the AS, which of course is an an inflammatory form of arthritis. Ankylosing Spondylitis is a type of progressive inflammatory arthritis that causes chronic inflammation of the spine and sacroiliac(SI) joints.

Google it. It is called Crepeitus.

Hi Ryan,

I would say the cracking is a symptom of the process in AS and a pretty common thing we tend to notice. My neck, spine, and hips used to make loud cracking or snapping sounds an awful lot. I don't get many pops though.

We tend to stiffen up after relaxing for a spell and it can take a bit of movement before we loosen up again. If I lay on my stomach with my head and feet slightly off the edge of the bed (to help straighten up), I can almost be guaranteed a snap that is brutal in force. Probably some ligament snapping back where it should be.

Mine has slowly been quieting up over the years but my neck is still noisy.

My SI joint will pop when getting up from chairs in the morning. Usually goes away by later in the day. I don't pay attention to it anymore. The biggest pop is when I lay on my back and pull my right knee to my chest. When I straiten my leg out again there is a big pop, probably SI related, but I've had that for as long as I can remember. I don't associate any of it with pain. All my friends have various joints that make noise. My knees and shoulders pop from time to time.

Active AS = pain, stiffness, and snap crackle and pop that has nothing to do with that breakfast cereal.

Unfortunately, you will get used to it.

Thanks everyone! Sorry I wasn't able to get back to everyone earlier I had to work all day and night. I guess these are just some things Im gonna have to get used to unfortunately. It bothers me cuz it feels like when I relax things fall out of alignment or something. Then when I get up everything wants to go back in to place, at least that's how it seems. My neck does that weird grinding. It seems to happen more when I do something for a while that involves a lot of head movement and I have hurt my neck a few times and that's when it's really bad. I once made a dr of mine a few years ago take their stethoscope and listen to it lol my old Drs used to think I was crazy I think lol they never took anything I said very serious though. I used to get so mad when I left because I would still have all the pains and things goin on but no explanation. Thanks for all the insight everyone!