Is it good or bad to crack your knuckles?

By | In: Arthritis | 2 Comments

30 August 2011

Question by єℓєgancє: Is it good or bad to crack your knuckles?
I have been doing it for a while, just out of habit, but sometimes my right pinky gets sore, so I stop, and it feels better. I’m not sure if it affects my fingers, but if it did, wouldn’t it affect all of them?

Also, I am sick of this back-and-forth battle between “it prevents arthritis” and “it causes arthritis” so if you could throw something in there about that… that would be great. Thanks!

Best answer:

Answer by BILL C
It has no effect on your joints.

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2 User Comments : Share your thoughts

  1. Reply
    anthonycp August 30, 2011 at 7:53 pm

    Cracking your knuckles generally is a bad thing to do and cna lead to problems later.

    I used to crack my knuckles alot and im pretty arthritic now at just 25 (allthough some of that is genetic I think).

    I have heard that gently pulling on your fingers away from your hand until they pop can relieve pressure and is not harmful.

    I’d do a google search and read some articles on it from medical authorities.

  2. Reply
    Alberto M August 30, 2011 at 8:04 pm

    Your joints are filled with liquid for lubrication. When you stress your joint by bending it when you are trying to crack it, you increase the volume in a certain part and cause the pressure to drop, and some of the liquid vaporizes into a bubble. Very quickly, the bubble pops and the popping sound is the crack you hear. This is called cavitation. Cavitation can cause damage, because as the bubble pops, it creates a shock wave that impacts on the surrounding material.

    Cavitation is the same thing that happens to a boat propellor. Water flowing across the edge experiences a pressure drop, bubbles form, and then the bubbles pop. Over time, the shock waves pit the propellor and chip pieces off, and that is why you have to change your propellors out after a while.

    The difference is, a propellor experiences a buzzbillion (scientific term) cavitations while your joint only experiences one when you crack it. So unless you crack your knuckles a gagillion times, you cant really do much damage.

    However, there is a difference between a crack and a pop. Sometimes the cracking sound you hear is connective tissue popping from one side of the bone to the other, and that can actually cause damage to your tissue, not your bones. You should generally be able to tell the difference I would think. You might be able to get your shoulder to pop and jerk if you rotate your arm tightly full circle, and that is a ligament pop.

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