I lived with crunch knees for almost 20 years, than one day, severe pain, and squatting was out of the question for me. If not treated, It will ultimately turn into OA ( osteoarthritis), as your cartilage begins to tear down more. The first step IMO would to be lose weight if your BMI(body mass index) is our of whack, and exercise (stair master/spinning cycle). After dropping your BMI from a spinner, or stairmaster, which can take a few weeks, even months, and still challenged with the respective knee joint, a cortisone shot will be most likely your next option. This most likely will be temporary. You will know with in a week if the cortisone was beneficial By the end of the second week, if you do not have any relief from the cortisone shot, Prolotherapy is the next option imo. Prolotherapy is a nonsurgical treatment which stimulates healing. Short for "proliferation therapy," Prolotherapy is also known as nonsurgical ligament and tendon reconstruction, or regenerative injection therapy. Prolotherapy works by stimulating the body's own natural healing mechanisms to repair injured musculoskeletal tissue. Prolotherapy works by getting the body to use its own natural healing mechanisms to repair injured and painful joint areas. In a sense, they use a sugar water solution in tricking the body to think it has more of an injury than it really does, inflaming the joint, which in turn will stimulate the body's natural healing process. I am actually going through this right now, and had my first injection today. It typically works with a series of injections. The total of injections depend on the severity of the injury.

One supplement that has really worked for me was MSM (methylsulfonylmethane), it is a Biologically active sulfur, and is one of the most critical nutrients for our bodies to remain youthful and energetic. As we age, along with a diet deficient in essential nutrients, our bodies become stiff, our cells become rigid, and our overall energy begins to rapidly decelerate. It has tons of benefits, from Improving skin health and complexion, flexibility, Detoxifies the body, Strengthens hair and nails, Accelerates healing, Naturally Increases energy, and imo most importantly, it is a Anti-inflammatory. Hope this helps, as it may work for some, and may not work for others. I will report back after I am completely done with my Prolotherapy.

FYI - My doctor basically said I am at the early stage of osteoarthritis, and if gone untreated, grinding away per se, a knee replacement would be likely, of course based on activity levels, and my BMI. if your under 27, your golden, 27- 30 you have less work to do, over 30, well you get the progression. good luck brother

It's the Ebola virus.

both knees? or just the one? I had a slight strain playing rugby a few years back on one knee and since then it's crunchy. Dr. said it's cause once something in there slides out place just ever so slightly (tendon,cartilage etc.), it gets stretched then gets in the way throwing the whole system just a bit off. The crunch is just the pieces self-aligning and pushing/pulling each-other out the way cause the joint is not as tight as is it used to be.

If no pain, no problem- the crunch is just your new bar path so to speak, no way to fix. Added friction will likely cause problems down the road though.

It's cartilage I had an mri on both knees a few years back

Shit my bad I thought the header said CRUNCHY TACOS.. My bad

My knees do the same thing. Not exactly sure why either, but it bugs the hell out of me.

Darth will be in here sometime soon with a solution to our problem.

Half my body is like that. I get it in the lower vertebrae, hips, knees elbows and shoulders. I'm starting yoga this week to try and stay flexible. It's definitely cartilage popping. It just doesn't sound good though.
A guy I know the trains some monsters told me to supplement with collagen.
I'm definitely going to give it a try

Could be low estrogen. I have calcium deposits under my knee caps and they make that noise.

Any chance you can post a pic of the bottom of your squat or a video of you doing a squat? If there is no pain most likely could be a knee path issue (Valgus knees) that could lead to pain or injury