Is it bad to crack your nuckles?

Question

i was just wondering

Answer 1

I heard about a study that was conducted among arthritis sufferers who lived in various assisted living locations. They were asked whether or not they habitually cracked their knuckles in their younger years.

Unfortunately, the elderly participants couldn't remember their earlier years....

Answer 2

I found this interesting information on the effects of cracking your knuckles.
Arthritis and Cracking Knuckles
There is no definitive evidence that cracking your knuckles leads to arthritis. Cracking your knuckles does wear away the cartilage between the joints over a long period of time which may cause arthritis.
Don't listen to those people that tell you cracking your knuckles will cause you to have arthritis. At this point it's just a speculation, not wild, but certainly not founded on anything but misconceptions. All you're doing is playing with the physiology and chemistry of your body a bit. There are good and bad sides to this.

A study focused on 300 habitual knuckle crackers found no evidence linking knuckle cracking and arthritis. Chronic crackers did suffer other harm, including soft tissue damage and loss of grip strength. This damage is usually minor, however, and cracking your knuckles actually has some benefits -- you'll feel looser and enjoy more mobility in your joints immediately after popping.
It only elongates the joints over time and gives you the appearance of longer fingers.
The crackling sound when you 'crack' your knuckles is just the release of gases (nitrogen if I recall) back into your bloodstream. No one has ever shown that this is in any way harmful but it can be annoying if done habitually. That's probably why the athritis story originated, an annoyed parent wanted to scare his kids into stopping the practice.
It takes 20+ minutes for the gases and fluids to get back into your knuckles to get poped again. and it has been proven that the worst thing that can happen is a slightly stretched ligament which is not harmful at all. it is perfectly fine.

Answer 3

I don't think it is bad, and actually I crack mine every day - it has become a habit.

I usually do it once on the train to work, and then once when I get into bed at night.

Weird.

I checked it on wikipedia and found this:

A single event is not enough to cause damage to the joint, although there is a hypothesis 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" is not supported by any evidence, but habitual knuckle crackers are more likely to have hand swelling and lower grip strength.

Answer 4

I don't know if there are any bad physical effects other than the fact that it definately makes your knuckles larger. I have been cracking my knuckles for years and I have a hard time getting my rings on and off. I have to buy them large so they will fit over my knuckles and they are too loose which makes them turn around on my fingers when they are in the proper place. That is so annoying.

Answer 5

You no to actually crack your knuckles makes some of us whimper. For some of us all we do is move and we pop and all, and for some of us it hurts!
Though I have read where it is a myth about cracking ones knuckles being bad.....
I always get after my kids for doing this. BUT we have a long family history of painful arthritis's.

I think it is bad, my personal opinion though. I can not find anything scientific to back this up as being bad.

Answer 6

YES! I used to crack mine all the time, but you can end up with bad arthritis, and have trouble moving your fingers. It took me a while to get out of the habit, but now its all good =]

Answer 7

I asked my doctor one time and he said "like this?" then cracked his, so I guess I never got a straight answer from him. I still crack mine after many years though.

Answer 8

It's just recently come out that it won't cause arthritis, but it's still a hard habit to break once you've started.

Answer 9

origanally, human beings idea it become undesirable to crack your knuckles, questioning that it motives arthritis. yet cutting-edge analyze disproved that idea, searching that there is no longer something incorrect with it in any respect.

Answer 10

heard some time ago that it can be as a bloke in work does it all the time and someone told him it is bad for him !!!!! Not sure why though...