Here’s some potential good news for runners or people fresh off knee surgery: Your creaking knees might not indicate deeper health issues. New research finds that knee creaking is not associated with a greater risk of arthritis in people recovering from surgery.

Scientists at La Trobe University in Australia led the study, which examined the long-term outcomes of young patients who underwent anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Though people with knee creaking did experience more pain on average in the first year following surgery, they ultimately fared no worse than people without creaky knees years later.

The findings suggest that creaky knees might not be a reliable predictor of future arthritis, even in people healing from traumatic injuries, the researchers say.

A noisy

See Full Page