cracking knuckels?
Question:
Answers:
Answers taken from http://www.howstuffworks.com/question437.htm and http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/05/10/26/does_cracking_your_knuckles_really_cause_arthritis.htm
First - the "sound":
"If you've ever laced your fingers together, turned your palms away from you and bent your fingers back, you know what knuckle popping sounds like. Joints produce that CRACK when bubbles burst in the fluid surrounding the joint.
Joints are the meeting points of two separate bones, held together and in place by connective tissues and ligaments. All of the joints in our bodies are surrounded by synovial fluid, a thick, clear liquid. When you stretch or bend your finger to pop the knuckle, you are causing the bones of the joint to pull apart. As they do, the connective tissue capsule that surrounds the joint is stretched. By stretching this capsule, you increase its volume. And as we know from chemistry class, with an increase in volume comes a decrease in pressure. So as the pressure of the synovial fluid drops, gases dissolved in the fluid become less soluble, forming bubbles through a process called cavitation. When the joint is stretched far enough, the pressure in the capsule drops so low that these bubbles burst, producing the pop that we associate with knuckle cracking."
As for arthritis:
Causes Of Arthritis?
What are the actual causes of arthritis? Unfortunately, there is no definitive answer as of yet ... but knuckle cracking is not one of them!
Although the exact cause of arthritis may not be known, there are several risk factors that are linked to the disease.
Age. The risk of developing arthritis, especially osteoarthritis, increases with age.
Gender. In general, arthritis occurs more frequently in women than in men.
Obesity. Being overweight puts extra stress on weight-bearing joints, increasing wear and tear, and increasing the risk of arthritis.
Work factors. Some jobs that require repetitive movements or heavy lifting can stress the joints and/or cause an injury, which can lead to arthritis.
it is the release of nitrogen bubbles from within the joints.
doesn't cause problems for a while, then can cause subluxation or loosening of the ligaments around the joints if one side is stretched more than the other.
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