i have popped my knuckles for a quite long time and i was wondering if it will affect me in the future?

Answer 1

You'll get better at it. ; )

Answer 2

Does Knuckle-Cracking Cause Arthritis?
http://elfstrom.com/arthritis/knuckle-cracking.html

Knuckle cracking: key to a better life, or the road to a living hell?

Scientific research has determined what happens when a joint makes a popping sound. But if you crack your knuckles will you develop arthritis in those joints? Ian A. York examines a common belief in this article originally written for the usenet newsgroup alt.folklore.urban.


Ian A. York, Ph.D.
[e-mail]
Research Fellow, Department of Pathology, Harvard University
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Lymphocyte Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute November 1995

The question is usually, "Will cracking my knuckles cause arthritis?" and there are probably two myths given as the answer. One is "yes", and the other is "no."

Oddly enough, medical science has not devoted great attention to this vital question. A while ago I posted some abstracts about it; more recently I read some 83% of the world's literature on this subject (the sixth paper was torn out of its binding) and the answers are far from clear.

Two papers ([4] and [5]) were essentially case reports, or were too small to be reliable. One [2] was a larger study, one [1] was a review with some original data, and the other one [3] was a letter commenting on [2]. The first two can be pretty much dismissed; [4] simply found a guy with arthritic hands who cracked his knuckles (and had no obvious predisposing signs for arthritis) and concluded the knuckle-cracking was causative; this is a meaningless correlation.

[5] was slightly better; they surveyed elderly people for arthritis of the hands and then asked which of them were 'habitual knuckle-crackers'. However, the numbers were too small to give much information; I also have serious questions about their method of identifying knuckle-crackers. (They found that 11 of the 23 women they asked self-identified themselves as knuckle-crackers. Perhaps I've been leading a sheltered life, but this sounds awfully high to me. Does anyone out there find that half of the little old ladies they meet habitually crack their knuckles? Perhaps their subjects took the question to mean 'Have you ever cracked your knuckles?" instead.)

Now we get to the interesting papers. [2] looked at a larger number of people (300 people, of whom 74 admitted to being habitual knuckle-crackers - a number that sounds closer to my expectations than the previous one) and studied a variety of hand functions. Most were normal; in particular, there was no increased incidence of arthritis. However, the KC group was more prone to swelling of the hand, and also had reduced grip strength.

When I posted the abstract to this paper, someone on the group pointed out that the KC group were also found to be more likely to be manual laborers, and noted that they therefore might have been more prone to hand trauma, which (rather than the KC itself) could have led to the hand problems. This was a fair point that wasn't addressed by the abstract, although I assumed the study would have considered this rather obvious potential confounding factor; this is why I checked the full paper. The authors do indeed consider it, and conclude that it seems unlikely, since the KC group was no more prone to trauma or hand surgery, or to other hand problems.

However, the follow-up letter [3] makes another point - which is that the correlation doesn't demonstrate cause. The writer suggests that, for example, people with unusually loose joints may be more prone both to crack their knuckles and to joint damage because of the loose joints. This is fair too - although pretty speculative - and so the question remains open.

One thing we can safely conclude, though, is that KC does not cause arthritis. Even in the relatively large study, the KC group was not found to be more prone to arthritis. So technically, the "no" answer is correct. However, since I doubt that most people draw a sharp distinction between developing osteoarthritis of the metacaarpophalangeal joints and chronic inflammatory damage to the ligamentous capsule of the metacarpophalangeal joint (both hurt) I don't think a "no" answer here really addresses the question.

This brings us to the last study [1]. Here Brodeur considers some potential mechanisms by which KC could induce damage. They point out hhat the mechanism responsible for the noise - cavitation - is the same principle that causes damage to plane and ship propellers. However, a calculation of the energy released by a single crack puts it at 1/10 the level necessary to cause damage. If we accept this - and it seems reasonable - then the question becomes whether chronic low-level assault can cause damage in the long term. There's no evidence either way for this, and it's as easy to come up with rationales on both sides.

There's another mechanism that Brodeur mentions more in passing, that I think is at least as plausible as cavitation. During the KC process, the ligaments around the joint are rapidly stretched. Could this lead to chronic damage? It seems to me that it certainly could. A similar effect strikes, for example, pitchers; the trauma involved in pitching a single game may not cause any particular damage, but as we all (where "we all" equals North American baseball fans) know pitchers' joints and ligaments are more prone to damage over the long term than are the average persons'. The stress involved in cracking a knuckle may be less than that involved in throwing a baseball 97 miles per hour, but on the other hand (Ha!) the ligaments involved are less robust, and while a pitcher may deliver some 100-odd insults to the ligaments every five days, I imagine a confirmed knuckle cracker is well above that.

So what can we conclude? There's weak evidence for some damage to the joints; there's a reasonable, but speculative, model for the mechanism. There is hard evidence that the effect is not inevitable; not all members of the KC groups showed damage. I would conclude, personally, that it's quite likely that cracking your knuckles could lead to some unpleasantness down the road; and since there's little reason to continue an annoying and asocial habit, I'd suggest quitting. But since your loved ones have probably already suggested this many a time, it's unlikely you'll take my word for it.

Summary: Cracking your knuckles does not cause arthritis, but it may damage your hand in other ways.

Answer 3

Though many people have been told that "it's just an old wives tale" that you will get arthritis, medical science has shown this to be true. It breaks down the cartilidge in between the joints in the fingers (which is making that "popping sound/feeling"). Over time, this is what develops into arthritis, which is when that wore down area gets calcified and causes a lot of pain.

Answer 4

i'm no longer a physician yet i've got been popping my knuckles considering i became 8 years previous. i'm now 37 and my hand hurts as quickly as I attempt to write down for extremely long. I do bypass sewing and if it is raining outdoors, i'm no longer able to try this. a good style of the time my arms are high quality, yet each so often they definitely do harm alot.

Answer 5

I would not take a chance on it. have always pop knuckles, now wonder if that is what is causing my fingers to cramp up. No it's not from typing. They just curl up and have to straighten them out put flating on table. have to go to bed with them under pillow to keep them flat so they will not curlup in the morn.
So, dont pop you fingers. tc.

Answer 6

yep, your knuckles will be bigger than they really should be, and will have to be popped or they'll hurt, trust me been doing it for 25 years!! Cant wear most rings simply because the size i need to get over my knuckles is too big once it's on!

Answer 7

No. It will have no affect. It's just an old wives tale.

Answer 8

oh my gosh thats just great, no it wont effect you in the long term in the future

Answer 9

well scientists havnt found out if cracking fingers is bad or good yet.

Answer 10

most likely

Answer 11

just a habit that you will have a hard time breaking