is this bad....?

Question

is cracking your nuckles bad? well, i know it is, but how bad? it's such a bad habit of mine. and i heard you get bigger nuckles if you do. i also crack my toes. why is it bad and is it true you get bigger nuckles?

Answer 1

I just had a knee worked on. One of the symptoms, or so I thought, of knee problems was the cracking and popping. The doctor compared it to cracking the knuckles and said it was a myth--"Knuckle cracking is just popping of air, just like you might do with bubble gum". Don't worry about it. If you developed arthritis in your hands you probably were predisposed to it whether you ever cracked your knuckles or not. You are okay.

Below are some common articles on this:

Answer 2

It is bad for you besides getting big nuckles cracking your nuckles can lead to severe arthritis later on in life or you can beging having cricked fingers so dont crack them no more this is due because when you crack your nuckles you make a bubble of carbon dioxide in your bones and thats how that bubble keeps on taking space and makes them bigger and bigger.. so thats why

Answer 3

A single event is not enough to cause damage to the joint, although it is possible that prolonged joint stress due to cracking knuckles may eventually lead to a higher risk of joint damage. The long-term consequences of this practice have not been studied thoroughly, and the scientific evidence is inconclusive. However, the common parental advice "Cracking your knuckles gives you arthritis" may be simply a device to deter children from this practice, which many people find annoying because of the sound it makes. In fact, a study by Castellanos and Axelrod found that arthritis was not a product of knuckle cracking. They evaluated 300 consecutive outpatients at Mount Carmel Mercy Hospital to determine whether habitual knuckle cracking is a risk factor for hand dysfunction. They found no relation with osteoarthritis, but noted that 'knuckle crackers were more likely to have hand swelling and lower grip strength.'

Answer 4

I remember hearing that the "cracking noise" is actually little air bubbles tat accumlate between your joints that help your bones from scrapping together along with your tendons and fluid that is naturally there also. I think the effect of larger knuckles is sort of like a self given arthritic appearance aka like a calcium build up between your joints. I know when I use to crack my knuckles it was not just a habit, but it was uncomfortable after a while if I didn't. It'll be hard to stop, but I would if I were you.

Answer 5

Cracking knuckles has NEVER been associated with causing arthritis.
This concept is as wrong as saying weight lifting makes you short, or
playing basketball makes you tall.

The "popping" of the knuckles results from forcing joint fluid to
very rapidly pass from one side of the joint to the other, where the
"sides" are partitioned off by the main bones of the joint. Let me
rephrase that: a joint is an area where two or more separate and distinct
bones meet. The joint fluid provides a cushioning between the joints
so that they don't grate into each other. Cracking your knuckles forces
the joint fluid from one part of the joint to another, and the popping
sound is just the result of the high pressured rushing of fluid.

Rheumatoid arthritis is characterized by the loss of joint fluid from the
joint, but it results from damage to the linings of the joint itself.
It's tempting to claim that the high pressure flushing of fluid during
a knuckle "crack" can cause damage to the lining, but there simply is no
evidence to that effect. It was probably made up by some very sensitive
individuals who hate the "pop".

Answer 6

It has not been proven that cracking your knuckles will make them bigger. All that is happening is you are compressing the materials in the joint and forcing a small amount of gas out of the joint (that is what makes the cracking sound).

It is also still in debate if this will cause long term problems for the joints.

Answer 7

I crack my knuckles too and I've been told that it leads to arthritis which does make your knuckles bigger. When you have arthritis in your fingers, it gets hard to do the simplest things such as typing on the keyboard, writing... etc...

Answer 8

I am 29 years old and have been cracking my knuckles for as long as I can remember and they are not big at all. I picked up the habit from my grandma and until the day she died she never had a problem with her knuckles.

Answer 9

We ll it is true that it makes your nuckles gets bigger, but i dont think they get as big as u think they will. But the worst of all is that it slow down your finger ability to grow. But that also sometimes depends on your genes.

Answer 10

It's a myth, from mothers who didn't like the sounds and wanted their kids to stop. Cracking your knuckles just pops a little sack of air, which fills back up imeadiately. There's no perminant damage caused, and no arthritus. Ask your doctor and she'll tell you the same.