Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain. And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy; And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields. And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief. Much of your pain is self-chosen. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self. Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity: For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen, And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.
Answer from Jon Yuen
Hi Samuel ! Thanks for asking! Ah, the cracking, creaking and popping of the knees. In the fanciest of terms, these "joint crepitations" can feel uncomfortable! I remember how I interpreted the sounds my joints made as a sign of getting older / something not being in the right place.
Luckily(!) there doesn't seem to be a strong correlation between knee noise and pain. In fact, when they in 1987 (https://europepmc.org/article/med/3818762) looked at 247 symptomatic (ouch) 250 asymptomatic (no ouch) knees, they found that 99% of the asymptomatic knees produced noise.
One area of concern for some people is that the noise is indicative of pain, injury, or something like arthritis down the road. However, there is very little data to suggests that.
Whether or not something can be done to diminish the noise - I do not know (mine personally comes and goes fairly randomly). However, based on studies that have been done on knee crepitus, I think we have little to worry about. Should you find that pain accompanies the noise, then I would suggest talking to a therapist who could look for some underlying cause 😊 Hope that helps!
"A question to contemplate upon when you are in pain:
Where's the pain coming from, and where's it taking me towards?
Let the source and destination of the pain determine if you want to continue the behavior or change direction."