Possible mental factors behind that creaking knee

Last Updated on September 19, 2023

Most of the time, knee that creaks like old teakwood stairs when do a little front kick motion. It’s scary but often, there is no pain accompanying the creaking knees, at least during the initial stage.

According to Chinese healing system, the creaking knees occur when there is a blockage at one of the meridian points– it could be a point at the upper part of the thigh where it meets the groin area, and or the points at the knee area or thighs. The blockage prevents smooth flow of ‘qi’ and after a long time, the knee starts to creak.

Physically, it is quite obvious that the problem occur due to a blockage somewhere. Let’s be open and assume that there could be a mental, emotional or psychological cause that triggers the problem.

The mental cause of the knee problems

Till today, I don’t know if the creaking knee can be cured- but a healer I know once told me that one of his knees used to creak- but later, the problem just went off. He is a Chinese but practices ayurvedic healing.

I asked him that could it be a long standing emotional issue that he managed to solve. My healer friend nodded (but I know from his expression that it is personal experience that he would rather keep to himself).

From the book, “Your Body Speaks Your Mind” by Deb Shapiro (I definitely recommend the book if you want to explore more between mind-body relationships), she wrote about problems concerning the knees:

The language of the knees is immediately obvious, for here you kneel- an act of humbling yourself to a higher power or authority. The knees allow you to bend, to concede, to give, especially to give way, to be humble. In kneeling you relinquish the ego and embrace humility; without this ability, you become too stubborn, proud, inflexible and self-righteous. But when the knees give way too quickly, knocking and trembling with fear, then you need to rise up and claim your place in the world, developing greater self-esteem and self-confidence. 

The knees are like shock absorbers, taking the strain between the weight of the body above and the ups and downs of the terrain below. The knees are major weight carriers, so if that weight becomes too heavy the knees may show the strain. This weight may not be physical; psycho/emotional weight can be just as heavy. 

The author added that symptoms such as “water in the knee” indicates that we are trying to hold on to emotional energy and do not want to surrender or are overwhelmed by our emotions. Whereas if the knees are inflamed, indicates that something or someone could be making us angry and we are refusing to give in.

In the book, You Can Heal Your Body, author Louise Hay wrote that knee problems are indicative of:

“Stubborn ego and pride. Inability to bend. Fear. Inflexibility. Won’t give in.”. 

It may or may not apply to us but it’s worth checking ourselves to see for sure…

I am not saying that people get creaking knees purely due to mental causes. Lifestyle factors such as taking too much iced/ old water/drinks, bathing at night, caffeine as well as injuries can bring upon these symptoms. As such, reducing your intake of iced/cool drinks, caffeine and bathing after the sun sets can help to relieve the condition.

But at the moment there is no cure for this condition- the only thing that medical science can suggest is to take supplement like glucosamine, calcium and reducing weight. Physically, you can try acupressure, or seeing professional chiropractor or occupational therapist that can help to correct the gait. Sometimes when there is muscle imbalance, the body puts on excessive weight on certain muscles and less on others.

The imbalance could happen anywhere from the hip, knees or ankles but the effects are transferred to the rest of channel. With the correct supervised weight training regimen, the weaker muscles can be strengthened- so at least the knee cap will not need to absorb so much of physical weight, shock and pressure (which may accelerate the condition for osteoarthritis to set in).

Still, I have noticed that if the physical condition would usually reoccur if the main root cause is not addressed. When it comes back, you would need to fork out money to see the professionals. Therefore, why not be open minded enough to accept the possibility that the stiffness or this uncommon could originate from a possible personality trait and if yes, try to overcome that trait. At least, it does not cause us anything….