clicking in right knee

Question
Hi,
  I run a couple of miles a day when the weather cooperates.  Something happened that never happened before.  One day I felt a clicking in my right knee.  I thought I could run it out but it didn't go away.  I have it most of the time now running or walking, I can feel and sometimes hear a clicking as my knee goes through its motion.  Sometimes it hurts bad, sometimes it doesn't.
  If I go to the doctor he will probably say "Let's get an x-ray" and then won't tell me the results so I feel that is a waste of time.
   Are there any exercises to do and do these kind of things  get worse?

Answer
Good question Don. You definitely don't need an x-ray. That will tell you if you have a broken bone or not and that's obviously not what you have. There are a few possibilities of what the clicking could be.

1) Meniscus tear. This is more likely if there was a traumatic mechanism (sudden pop when cutting or falling) or if you are over 60. Either way, it is not cause for alarm. These end up being pain free with the right kind of care.

2) It could just be your patella-femoral (the surfaces between the knee cap and thigh bone) joint not moving exactly right. This also is easily treatable.

3) It could also be air pockets in your tibio-femoral joint (lower leg and thigh bone surfaces). This is not a big deal at all.

Those are the 3 most common ways this can happen. No matter the case you don't need surgery and they often don't get worse. If it does get worse then you'll just need to be a little more aggressive with conservative care.

Perform bridges http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKpC7AfRYK4 and clamshells http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiqvDV8pzRk and 1-leg sit-to-stands http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEtrqCu8Ne8. Perform enough to be tired and a little sore.

If performing these exercises for 5 days doesn't make any difference then you should go see a physical therapist. If you need help finding one I can definitely help there as well.