My sternum cracks when I stretch..?!
Question: My sternum cracks when I stretch!.!.!?
Recently, whenever I have a good old yawn and stretch, my sternum makes a cracking sound!. Is not painful and I have not suffered any chest trauma!.!.!.any ideas what / why this is happening!?!?Www@Answer-Health@Com
Answers:
Mine used to do that but stopped as I got older!.!.!.
Don't worry yourself about it, nothing is wrong (as long as there is no pain)!.
Quote:
"Stretching or bending a joint, (actions that always precede a knuckle crack), causes the bones of the joint to pull apart slightly!. This deformation decreases the pressure of the synovial fluid (that lubricates and nourishes the joint) which causes dissolved gases (oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide) to form bubbles!. As the joint gets stretched further apart, the pressure drops so low that the bubbles burst and a gas cavity with a partial vacume is formed!. Medically it's called joint cavitation!. The cavitation formation itself is silent, but part of the mechanism!. Because there is gas from the cavitation on one side of the joint capsule membrane, when you suddenly distended the joint capsule, its membrane "snaps" (much like when you bring two ends of a piece of paper together and pull them apart quickly it "snaps") and the gas on one side of the membrane allows the snapped membrane to act like a drum, creating the cracking noise!."
- By Emma Green on August 23, 2007 2:31 PM
The sternum is somewhat flexible being comprised of both cartilage and a thin layer of bone, over the years the cartilage becomes bone - "ossification" is what it's called!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
Don't worry yourself about it, nothing is wrong (as long as there is no pain)!.
Quote:
"Stretching or bending a joint, (actions that always precede a knuckle crack), causes the bones of the joint to pull apart slightly!. This deformation decreases the pressure of the synovial fluid (that lubricates and nourishes the joint) which causes dissolved gases (oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide) to form bubbles!. As the joint gets stretched further apart, the pressure drops so low that the bubbles burst and a gas cavity with a partial vacume is formed!. Medically it's called joint cavitation!. The cavitation formation itself is silent, but part of the mechanism!. Because there is gas from the cavitation on one side of the joint capsule membrane, when you suddenly distended the joint capsule, its membrane "snaps" (much like when you bring two ends of a piece of paper together and pull them apart quickly it "snaps") and the gas on one side of the membrane allows the snapped membrane to act like a drum, creating the cracking noise!."
- By Emma Green on August 23, 2007 2:31 PM
The sternum is somewhat flexible being comprised of both cartilage and a thin layer of bone, over the years the cartilage becomes bone - "ossification" is what it's called!.Www@Answer-Health@Com