Can cracking my joints do any harm?!


Question: i crack my fingers at all 3 joints several times a day, if i dont they tend to stiffen up and get a little tender, they are extremely flexible i can press them flat into my palm whereas most can only get them on a 90o angle. i also crack my toes and my back usually once a day, ive been told this will give me arthritis etc, is that an old wives tale? are there any issues with cracking joints?


Answers: i crack my fingers at all 3 joints several times a day, if i dont they tend to stiffen up and get a little tender, they are extremely flexible i can press them flat into my palm whereas most can only get them on a 90o angle. i also crack my toes and my back usually once a day, ive been told this will give me arthritis etc, is that an old wives tale? are there any issues with cracking joints?

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. However, the long-term consequences of this practice have not been studied thoroughly, and the scientific evidence is inconclusive. 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

no. its an old wives tale.
all you are doing is releasing air that built up in between the joints.
dont listen to what people say that you are going to get arthritis and all that crap. its not true
its completly harmless.

Yeah. I heard it can mess you up at a old age.

Maybe it isn't but if there is the smallest chance that it is harmful....WHY DO IT? I mean what do you get from it? Nothing! I hate it when people do it, it make me feel like " ewwww....!! wtf!!" when ever people do it next to me.

no ,but when it 's over cracked;, then it can do harm

Shouldn't affect you in the long term but it can cause some short term soft tissue damage if your doing it that frequently. Chances are the stiffening you feel when you don't is your tissue recovering. Good luck and God Bless.

Arnold B, he says he does it because he gets stiff/tender if he doesn't. I do it too. And its not air thats built up but liquid which rushes out making that noise.

And I think you'll be fine. I also heard about arthritis. Maybe its best to decrease it just for the sake of it?

this was asked several months ago...NO it doesn't do anything to the joints
the pop/crack noise is a gas bubble "exploding" and it doesn't hurt the joint

I have been told by a chiropractor that it has no ill effect...BUT
I have cracked mine since I was very young...and I now have problems with my fingers, back and neck.
My knuckles are at least twice the size they were in high school. My class ring fits on my little finger now, almost perfectly, whereas, I can not get it on either ring finger.

Do my knuckles actually hurt?...No, but they are constantly stiff and I expect that in another 20 years they will.

So my advice to you is that if you are not past HAVING to do it, then stop and even consider hypnotism to get out of the habit.

I doubt it; I believe that could strengthen your joint and muscles.





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