Clicking Joints After Recovery?

April 7, 2024 12:31 PM

This is a vague and random medical question, so please bear with me. A few weeks ago I suddenly developed very intense lower back pain on one side. I also seemed to have subtle flu-like symptoms and some other muscle pain in my knees and legs but I didn't feel particularly ill.

After an e-visit with a doctor, they recommended some physical therapy, and in a few days I started to recover and I now have only very mild pain in that area, and my other muscle pain has also disappeared. So, yay! But what I seemed to have been left with is a lot of weirdly clicking joints mostly happening in my hips, but sometimes my knees and feet? What might be causing this?

posted by nanook to Health & Fitness (1 answer total)

I also seemed to have subtle flu-like symptoms and some other muscle pain in my knees and legs but I didn't feel particularly ill.

Sounds as if it could be a mild case of

Poststreptococcal reactive arthritis: The presentation of arthritis after a recent episode of group A streptococcal pharyngitis raises suspicion for acute rheumatic fever, since it is one of the Jones criteria for that separate complication. But, when the arthritis is an isolated symptom, it is referred to as poststreptococcal reactive arthritis. This arthritis can involve a variety of joints throughout the body, unlike the arthritis of acute rheumatic fever, which primarily affects larger joints such as the knee joints. It can present less than 10 days after the group A streptococcal pharyngitis.[21]

This is one I would want antibiotics for because the standard progression in the full syndrome is: 'sore throat —> joint pain —> heart problems'.

And you could interpret the clickiness of your joints as a sign that some damage did take place there.
posted by jamjam at 4:13 PM on April 7, 2024 [2 favorites]