Corrective Exercises for Knee Clicking

Clicking at the knee is a common complaint walking into my West Hollywood sports chiropractic office.  Although a couple sites on the knee are potential origination points, I find that the most common area of occurrence is at the kneecap (patella) itself.  Knee clicking coming from the knee cap is usually painless, but it can eventually lead to breakdown of the cartilage underneath the patella itself, which can be painful.

Despite being painless in the early stages, knee clicking can be disconcerting, so those experiencing it want answers.  I've cut the video below to explain clicking knee coming from the patella.  In a nutshell, knee clicking comes from a tracking disorder of the patella on the femur and tibia on bending and straightening the knee.  The disorder is usually due to a muscular imbalance of the quadriceps muscles, specifically the vastus lateralis, which gets strong or overactive, and the vastus medialis, which gets weak or under active.  The vastus lateralis, being the strong one, will thus pull the kneecap toward the outside of the leg on knee extension leading to a..."click."

The way to fix knee clicking is by strengthening the vastus medialis relative to the vastus lateralis.  Watch the video below to see the best exercise to correct clicking knees due to a tracking disorder or muscular imbalance.  Remember, not fixing your knee clicking problem can lead to future degeneration, pain and disability, so start exercising now to click no more.