Hi

Have any of you ever experienced a grinding sound coming from your back at the point of your pain? My lower back makes an audible sound, kinda like the bones are grinding together when I turn certain ways. MRI and X rays have shown degenerative arthritis and stenosis at L4 and L5. When I mention that my back makes noises, the doc looks at me like I'm making a joke or something. I just wondered if anyone else has this or am I just an oddball.

MA

Hi, MoonAngel...
Whether or not you're an oddball may be subject to conjecture, but the grinding sound or feeling (sort of like a rusty hinge or gravel under your shoes) is real. That phenomenon is called "crepitation." Surprisingly, it's caused by bones rubbing against bones where the cartilage is either worn away or simply worn thin. You might ask your doctor if he's familiar with the phenomenon...

Moonangel,

Ponyboy is absolutely right...My NSS asked my husband if he could hear it in my neck...Sometimes I guess, unless he was BSing us, you can place your ear over the spot of the person with this problem and actually hear the bones grinding....I hear this with my neck a lot..or I did before my fusion...I do not hear it as much now...just the metal moving around...

ugh...yes...and i hate it. especially since mine come from my lower back!

grandmonkey is 4....he laughed and said "meme....you had a creeky f*art!"

Interesting post.
I have had this for many years, sounds like bones griding together.
I guess that was too simple for most of the doctors, and therapists
I have talked to. Most say the popping sounds are from gas being
released somewhere, muscles maybe? Even friends have told me the same thing, but I don't belive it one bit. My lumbar spine cracks and grinds and pops constantly. I think in my case it come from the facet joints, where they have denegrated, and rub together causing the grinding, and a major portion of my pain.
When I had my 5 level fusion done in 1997, all the popping stopped for a few years, but now it pops and cracks just like it did before the fusion.
Does that mean my fusion went bad, I don't know.
If my back stops grinding and popping, that is when I am in the most pain.
When I can get it to relax enough, I can get the joints to release, I will get a good crack out of it, kinda like going to the chiropractor. I don't mean one little crack, it cracks all the way my lumbar spine.
This actually provides a great deal of pain relief for me, its when they won't crack, is when the pain skyrockets.
I believe, in my case it is from the bone grinding against each other.
If I've been in bed for an extended period, my back will almost "sieze" up, and I can't crack it at all, possibly the joints are attempting to fuse together from the lack of movement, and the cracking stops that process, I don't know, I'm no doctor, but bone on bone, sounds like what it is to me.
Have you ever looked at "facett syndrome" It sounds exactly like what I have. I asked my neurologist about it once and he looked at me like I had 3 heads, and said he had never heard of such a thing, and that I must have been doing too much reading on the internet....LOL
Even though it sounds painful, cracking my spine is one of the only ways to decrease my pain sometimes. People say that I must be doing damage by doing this, but I say, how about all those people that go to chiropractors, are they hurting themselves as well?
So, cracking spine, absolutely, I am self chiropratic now, look at the money I save I should also note that I have a dozen pedicle screws, as well as 2 rods, plates, screws, wires, and assorted other crap in there, talk about a walking scrap-pile.

Peace
Rags

Lol you guys Thank you all for your replies and the chuckles. I'm glad to know I'm not alone in this. I may just print this out and show my doc that I'm not the only one that hears/feels this. Look forward to getting to know you all better.

MA

I realize that this is an old post, but I was googling the grinding, crunching, and popping noises and it led me to this post. Maybe someone can help me.

My husband can hear my back when I'm putting on my pajamas. I had a fusion on L5 S1, and there is hardware. It sounds and feels like the hardware has broken. What are the chances of that happening? It was installed in 2008. I get shrugged off when I ask the doctor. Sometimes I just move my arms or legs and it happens.My back is very painful with or without the noises. I still have some herniated disks and fibromyalgia on top of it. I take a lot of lyrica.

Ragtop, I believe that what people have told you the noises are is called "cavitation". That's like when you crack your knuckles and it pops. The noises that I hear from my back are not cavitation-type noises.

Has anyone had this mystery solved?

My back sounds exactly like my husband's knee with no cartilage. Just bone on bone.

Is that what they say the sound is called? My internal sound is like my husband's knee bone on bone. But everyone says they can't hear ot. Which how can you NOT?!?!? I have rods from T10-L5.

The crunchy rice krispies sound in my neck was called - crepitus