Have you ever noticed your shoulder popping or creaking during your workout? All this is due to a "condition" that encompasses all noise or abnormal sound that a joint produces when it moves, which is called " joint crepitation ".
This is usually not an alarming fact as long as you are not in significant pain. Many people tend to produce these crunches in their joints without the need for them to be injured; simply, your joints can produce the sound as well as the cracking of your knuckles.
If, in your case, it causes you very mild pain, the fastest and most effective solution would be home treatments such as cold compresses, rest and even stretching before and after training. On the other hand, if your pain is severe, it can only be treated and cured by knowing exactly the reason for the pain. For this reason, we give you 6 reasons why your shoulders creak while you train .
Why do shoulders creak when you train?
1. Your shoulder joint is subluxated
A shoulder subluxation is a partial dislocation of the shoulder joint, which can occur for a number of reasons; for example, when the ball of the bone in the upper arm (the humerus) partially detaches from the glenoid socket of the shoulder.
In this case, you may feel a tingling sensation, heat, or pain, as well as crackle in your shoulder . Another common symptom is that your shoulder feels “pinched” when trying to do overhead movements.
1.1 How to fix it?
The most feasible solution if you have a shoulder subluxation is to see a physical therapist. You will probably not need surgery, just a "closed reduction" process where the humerus will be gently guided into the socket.
After this it is likely that you will need a good continuous rehabilitation so that you can regain strength, stability, and mobility of the shoulder.
2. You have weak ligaments
Your ligaments connect bone to bone and their essential function is to keep your skeleton stable.
Most people experience tension in the ligaments from lack of physical activity and stretching, but some people have "loose" ligaments. So if your shoulders are causing noise , your ligaments probably need a small dose of tension.
The official name for this condition is ligamentous laxity , but you may also have heard it called "double joint" or "joint laxity."
What may be happening is that you have this condition by nature, but do not be confused if you hear that they name you any of the two terms mentioned above, because they are not entirely correct.
What happens when you have ligamentous laxity is that your joints are extremely loose, this corresponds to the fact that your shoulder ligaments are more elongated and make this condition a bit painful.
You will find the solution for this condition with a physiotherapist who knows how to handle the appropriate rehabilitation to be able to give the necessary stability to your shoulder.
3. Your shoulder is releasing gas
It is not the same as the intestinal sense, not at all. What happens when your shoulder releases gas is that your joints accumulate gas, and at a certain point, it needs to be released. However, it is a harmless gas that is produced due to the release of gases exerted by synovial fluid, the fluid in charge of the lubrication necessary for your joints to keep moving.
This process of releasing gases is usually called cavitation, and it is usually painless.
This problem in principle does not need to be solved, as long as you do not feel pain in your shoulders. Your shoulder may be working quite well even with this condition, so don't worry!
4. You have a labral tear or rotator cuff tear
These are the most common shoulder injuries . Both tend to cause cracks that lead to that cracking or creaking in the shoulders more often, making it look almost like a routine noise.
Labral tears involve injury to the cartilage rubber disc in the shoulder socket, which cushions the upper part of the arm bone (humerus); Whereas rotator cuff tears are injuries to any of the four muscles or to any of the tendons that keep the humerus secure in the shoulder socket.
The best thing to do in this case is to visit an orthopedic specialist. These injuries are frequent, serious and must be treated with great care by a specialist so that later there is no permanent damage.
5. Inflammation from bursitis or tendonitis
These are two inflammatory conditions capable of affecting any joint. They often refer to impact on the shoulder.
Bursitis refers to inflammation of a bursa , a fluid-filled sac that helps cushion your joints and reduce friction between different tissues in your body. When a shoulder bag becomes inflamed, the space within the shoulder joint decreases and can cause friction, which can lead to pain and popping.
Instead, tendonitis is about inflammation of a tendon , which is typically the rotator cuff or biceps. Regardless of the outcome of the inflammation, the outcome of the condition would be the same. Little space within the shoulder joint, leading to rubbing, friction, and pain.
This pair of conditions can be treated and cured by treatments such as ice, rest, and the supply of a couple of pain relievers or anti-inflammatories. However, in the event that the condition persists, it is best to go to a specialist who can do an MRI so that you have a clear diagnosis; this way you will obtain a faster and more adequate recovery.
6. Your bones are rubbing from osteoarthritis
As the years go by, the cartilage that makes up your joints wear out; therefore, there is less and less space between your bones, which at a certain point can cause friction between both bones and this is the reason for the "creaking" that we have mentioned.
Obviously when this is the reason for your crunching, the reason is that arthritis is ahead of you.
Can you solve an osteoarthritis problem?
Talk to your doctor, tell him that you suspect you have arthritis. He will be in charge of telling you what are the necessary measures that you should take so that you have a better one. They often recommend a change in lifestyle for these cases.
By this they refer to limitations for certain high-impact activities, continuous application of hot and cold therapies, as well as taking some medications that your doctor indicates to help relieve pain.
conclusion
Not all conditions or reasons are equally serious. Many are only temporary and can be quickly corrected. Therefore, if you have any of them, identify them and treat them as soon as possible.
There are also cases where the crunches are not due to the shoulder as such , but to any of the nearby joints. Therefore, whenever you can finish your routines with brief stretches for your arms in general and apply these tips so that you continue having the best training in a healthy way for your body.
References
- Capritto, A. 8 Possible Reasons Your Shoulder Pops or Cracks During Workouts. For Livestrong [Revised January 2020]
