can anyone tell me why our bones crack when we move?

Question

and whether this can damage your bones?

Answer 1

a lot of people think that when you crack your knuckles or back, youll get arthritas because your rubbing your bones together. This is highly untrue! there is fluid between your joins and when bubbles build up, it stiffens. By cracking it, you are "popping" the bubbles and relieving the pressure... crazy isnt it?

Answer 2

Cracking joints is the practice of manipulating one's joints such that it produces a sharp sound, likened to cracking (also likened to popping, etc.). To produce the sounds, many people will bend their fingers or other joints into unusual positions, or manipulate them in ways which are not commonly experienced in everyday use. For example, bending the fingers right back towards the back of the hand, pulling them away from the hand, or compressing a finger knuckle palmarly.

In many early motion pictures and subsequently parodied in animated cartoons, the gesture of cracking knuckles was associated with a "tough guy" image, especially when accompanied by the implicit or explicit threat of violence.

The physical mechanism is unknown, but possibilities that have been suggested include:

cavitation within the joint – small cavities of partial vacuum form in the fluid then rapidly collapse, producing a sharp sound (hypothesis in a medical journal)
the sudden stretching of ligaments (hypothesis by one reader of that journal)
release of gas from the joints being adjusted (this applies to the popping that can occur in any joint such as during chiropractic manipulation)
adhesions being broken, which simply means that as two cartilage surfaces are pressed together, they form adhesions, and when the joints are separated this makes the popping or cracking sound.

Answer 3

dear lucky, u r so lucky to hve this qustn. in our bone joints ther is a gap btwn 2 bones this gap is fill with some tissue this tissue gentrates by how much u having calcium products which mostly recomanded for stronging ur bone n joints. in our body structure from childhood to aged person doctor always preferd tht hve milk type products or some calcium tablets thts help ur bone / joints bcoz if u dsnt hve as much as ur bone reqrd calcium thn all bones became weak and also they react on that tissue between bone gaps this tissue work like a greese between two moving metal parts which reduce wear n tear this is also for ur bone . so pls hve sme amt of calcium otherwise one time comes tht time ur bone crackdown no carack sound nothing .thnx.

Answer 4

It's not the bones cracking. It is small pockets of air that get trapped in between the joints/muscles etc. When the air is squeezed out we hear the "crack".

Answer 5

It not the bones its the squishy bits between them that crack, they fill with air and when you move they pop which sounds like a crack.

Answer 6

It's not our bones that actually crack, it's small bubbles of gas that accumulate between joints and pop on moving.

Answer 7

Like popping your knuckles it is the cartilage that cracks relieving vacuum at the joint. No damage is done just move around more

Answer 8

Your bones do not crack. However the joints do sometimes pop as they are stretched.

Answer 9

The fluid in our joints contains dissolved Carbon Dioxide. When we stretch, this lowers the pressure in the fluid and the gas forms bubbles. These bubbles soon collapse and redissolve in the fluid. As they collapse they make a sound which we hear.

Answer 10

Generally, my bones don't crack when I move. And if yours do, I'd say you might have a problem.