health

Q: I just started working with a student who has a lot of issues with her knees, and also has a total hip replacement. Whenever she flexes her knees even the smallest amount while weight bearing they make this loud creaking noise. What is the cause of this and how should I work with her from a yoga standpoint? A: The sound that joints make when they move can often be scary. When do we need to be concerned about these sounds? Whether or not we should ignore them is the crux of this question and our medium of exploration is asana. It would seem that if you asked this question to a physician or other health practitioners, you would probably get an answer that sounded like this (now remember I now have my physical therapist�s hat on). Often sounds in knees are called crepitus. Crepitus may show up suddenly with no associated pain and it may be persistent every time the motion is performed. These joint noises are considered �benign� because there is no associated pain. Some theories of what...