Knuckle Cracking?


Question:
Is it really bad to crack your knuckles? Is there any long term effects? Does this cause arthritis?

Answers:
Hi there,

I think we are all guilty of cracking our hips, knuckles, fingers, and other "crackable" joints. Healthcare professionals have been debating over this issue for years. Let me share with you what I know, so that this may shed a bit of light on your question.

When a person "cracks" their knuckles, your joint in not actually cracking. Depending on the size of the joint, you have a large quantity of synovial fluid (composed of traces of cells and a thin mucal membrane) that help lubricate and ease the movements of joints. When you "crack" your knuckle, for example, you are shifting the synovial fluid from one end of your knuckle to the other. The sudden shift and movement of fluid causes a popping noise.

I, personally, do not believe that this puts you at risk for arthritic joint problems. You are simply shifting fluid, just as we do with our knee joints every step that we take- and many people live with no knee or hip joint problems.

There are no long term effects, except for the fact that the more you crack your knuckles, the louder they pop. Once you start shifting synovial fluid around the joint, it creates a type of "channel" that is easier to access, thus creating a louder pop as it moves through this channel.

Hope this helps,

Kelly McBride RDMS
Yes and yes. it makes your knukles bigger over a long period of cracking and well thats a good/bad thing depending how you look at it
it is not bad to crack your knuckles. your joints build up air and pockets of bubbles and cracking your knuckles are the popping of those bubbles. there are no long term effects and the only effect one can get out of it is a sense of being annoyed.
cracking your knuckles has no more harm than seeing a chiropractor- it wont cause arthritis- i asked my doctor the same question his reply was no.
there was a show once about this called Whats good for you and it said that it was ok to crack your knuckles and does nothing to them and you wont get arthritis
yes it does and now i have large knuckles.. and somtimes pain and only way to get rid of it is to crack knuckles..wish i never started about 40 yrs. go
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