A couple of years ago, I had a neck thing going on. Every time I turned my head to the left, I heard a funky, grinding sound. My neck was a little stiff, but not enough to explain the noise it was making. I began to worry that the noises coming from my neck were a sign that something was really wrong. It turns out that I had something called crepitus, which is a big word to describe any kind of noise coming from a joint. The sounds can be creaky, grinding, crackling, grating, and even popping. Joint noise can be so soft that only you hear it or loud enough to startle a roomful of people. Crepitus can be caused by a number of structural issues. One of the most common causes of joint noise is air bubbles popping inside the joint. What happens is that gas builds up …