Cracking Knuckles (and other parts)

[Icewalker]

I crack my knuckles. I did a while ago, then stopped, now I've started again. Because I am semi-paranoid about my long term health, I looked into it to make sure it wasn't bad for my hands.

To my knowledge, tests have been made that showed no connection between things like arthritis and cracking your knuckles. However my doctor told me that it does slightly widen the gaps between them, making ones fingers seem more knobby, so I'm going to stop anyways.

However, I also recently started cracking my back. If there is somewhere I can wedge my feet in and get a hold on something, I can twist 180 degrees between my waist and neck and my spine cracks in somewhere from 3 to 8 places, and it feels awesome. I'm just worried I'm hurting my back.

Anybody have information on this? It's basically the same thing Chiropractors would do, I believe, which implies to me that it isn't bad for you.

[Edan]

I crack most joints in my body, including my back and neck, multiple times daily.

I have been doing it for about 5 years and have not noticed anything, and it does feel good. Best is in the morning when everything is tight from the hours of rest, and you get a good twist on the back and neck and the whole thing cracks in a flurry of pops.

I used to be told that it led to arthritis, but I asked a couple of doctor friends and they said it was just gas escaping from the joint, then going back into place, nothing terribly wrong. Although the wider gaps in fingers part might be true, I have not noticed anything meaningful in that area after 5 years.

[Raiser Blade]

Huh I always heard that it led to arthritis. Good to know the truth.

[Serpentine]

What a coincidence, both my elbows just cracked...
Wait, there was a question? Ugh, chiropractors. I'm afraid I've inherited my mother's suspicion/distrust/disdain of chiropractors. Especially when you see footage of them cracking baby bones :smallyuk: I seem to recall being told that it isn't really such a good thing that they always crack your bones, and/or that it's mostly showmanship/just playing to what the patient expects.
*ahem*
Anti-chiropractor rant aside, can you give us some links to these studies? I'd be interested and rather relieved to know if it isn't harmful.

[Blayze]

The best I can come up with at the minute is from the Wikipedia page.


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. However, the long-term consequences of this practice have not been studied thoroughly, and the scientific evidence is inconclusive. In a letter to the editor, Dr. Donald L. Unger reported to have spent fifty years cracking the knuckles of only his left hand twice daily. After this time his hands were found to have no noticeable differences and no arthritis had developed. (Note that this is not a serious scientific study, and results can be only generalized to "knuckle-cracking physicians with a lot of time on their hands" as the article states half-jokingly).[6] 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 attributed to stretched tendons.[7]

[wxdruid]

I love getting my back and neck cracked and enjoy it. I feel much better afterwards.

Although I do have arthritis in my knees and they crack/pop as I go up the stairs, but I think it's because I developed arthritis in my knees and not because I popped/cracked them when I was younger (since I didn't).

[poleboy]

I've been cracking every joint you can imagine for 15 years or more. The only ill effect I have noticed is that they start to hurt a little if I don't do it for a day or more. Also, my ring-finger tends to go a little numb and very cold in cold weather, but I have no idea if there is a connection.
Cracking my spine and neck generally has had a very positive effect. Since I started doing it, my headaches connected to neck tensions and bad posture have been greatly reduced.

According to what I have read about this, the studies are generally few an inconclusive. The snapping sound connected with cracking joints is generally believed to be the sound of gas between the joints escaping and cannot definitively be connected to arthritis. However, I have to admit that my hands look a lot older than the rest of my body, probably because of this. Your joints tend to become a little swollen after many years of cracking knuckles.

[SurlySeraph]

I crack my knuckles, neck, knees, toes, wrists, and occasionally shoulders. I shouldn't as much as I do, but meh.

[13_CBS]

I can crack every single movable joint in my body, some of them multiple times or even continuously. :smallbiggrin:

I've been doing this for a loooong time, and the only time it's been a bother is when I crack my neck improperly and it ends up being sore for a bit (though a second crack using a chair for leverage tends to right things).

Also, isn't arthritis when your white blood cells start attacking your cartilage? I can't imagine that the simple removal of air from between your bones can suddenly encite your blood cells into a riotous frenzy :smallconfused:

[Brickwall]

I crack my knuckles fairly often, and my neck occasionally. Other joints will sometimes crack randomly, but it's not something I can do with any notable frequency.

I don't know if it's directly bad for my health, but I know it drives my mother absolutely batty. So, of course, I have made no effort to break the habit.

[Ranna]

Ok so, if anyone ever wants to get a secret out of me or to make me behave just try to crack my knuckles it is the one thing that makes me squirm and then squeal apparently you have to relax your knuckles to make them crack? It seems my knuckles are the tensest knuckles around Nigh impossible to crack (what with me crying my eyes out and wriggling away.)

I HATE IT, I HATE THE SOUND I HATE THE FEELING I HATE EVERYTHING BOUT IT!!!

[Mauve Shirt]

My knees crack a lot, but I don't crack anything intentionally. I can dislocate my jaw though, and do.

[SilentNight]

I occaisionally crack my knuckles and fingers, which is more of a compulsive thing with me. Same for my neck. I can crack it as often as I want simply by leaning my head back and moving it around. About half a year ago I did it almost constantly and was kind of worried. Now I managed to stop. My toes and back on the other hand, those I crack on purpose and it feels gooooood.:smallbiggrin:

[RandomLogic]

I crack my fingers, neck and back. My neck makes a sickening sound, but it feels so good, same with my back.

My sister tells me that someday I'll toss my head off...

[SurlySeraph]

I crack my knuckles fairly often, and my neck occasionally. Other joints will sometimes crack randomly, but it's not something I can do with any notable frequency.

I don't know if it's directly bad for my health, but I know it drives my mother absolutely batty. So, of course, I have made no effort to break the habit.

...
That's the Brickwall we know and love!

[Aereshaa_the_2nd]

I can crack my fingers, toes, back, neck, and wrists. I crack each finger in two or three places, and can crack every part of my back and neck, by standing, leaning back, and trying to see my heels. I love to drive my mom crazy.

[adanedhel9]

Yes, I crack my knuckles. I can actually crack each knuckle individually, resulting in 28 cracks in just my hands. I can also crack my elbows, back, hips (ie, where the hips meet the legs, not the hips themselves), knees, ankles, and toes. The way I usually crack my back is not by twisting, but simply by sitting up straight in a chair and pushing down on the armrests with my hands; as my torso moves up, the weight of my lower body stretches the spine and cracks the joints.

My right shoulder and the second toe of each foot "pop", which has more to do with tendons sliding around than popping gas bubbles, and isn't particularly pleasant. I can't throw overhand more than a few times without my shoulder starting to ache from the popping. So long as I stick to a particular variety of sidearm, though, I'm fine.

I've been a knuckle cracker for about 10 years now, and I haven't noticed anything unusual as far as joint size or strength or flexibility. I have noticed that I tend to move my lower body in a way that promotes the various crackings; I've been trying to limit that lately.

[Vaynor]

I crack every knuckle in my hand (i.e. three per finger), wrist, elbow, shoulders, knees, toes (mostly just the big ones), ankles, back, and neck.

Every once in a while my knuckles will hurt a little bit (but only for a little while), and my knuckles have gotten slightly larger than most peoples, but it feels good and I don't think there's any long-term harm.

[Dallas-Dakota]

(You mean the cracky sound? It feels good)

I crack my jaws, my neck and sometimes my back.

[smellie_hippie]

For what it's worth, I cracked my knuckles for a while growing up. Now that I am older, my knuckles are larger than my fingers by a small degree.

No pain or discomfort, but I have to wear a ring that is large enough to go over my knuckle and then it sometimes "rattles" a bit on my finger.

Just FYI...

[FdL]

I do crack my joints. Mainly fingers and neck and back, but yeah, I can get it from pretty much everything. I don't think it's bad, well, I've been doing it for years and I haven't felt any changes. I'd rather not do it with my neck, but well, it relieves some pressure when I do. And my neck problems are not related to cracking it.


Ugh, chiropractors. I'm afraid I've inherited my mother's suspicion/distrust/disdain of chiropractors. Especially when you see footage of them cracking baby bones :smallyuk:

Wow. That sounds really disturbing :s

[Em Blackleaf]

I crack my knuckles and my toes. Sometimes I crack my neck and I can't avoid cracking my back (which does feel good) with some PE class stretches. My mom always told me it lead to arthritis, but I figured I'd probably get it when I get old anyway. :smalltongue:

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

I do crack my knuckles ( and by back). What cracking knuckles is the tendon expanding to fill the space between the bones. Which, which has been proven to lead to a decrease in your grip strength over time, as well as stretching of said tendons. While the arthritis thing hasn't been proven, is really is not very good for the tendons of your fingers.

[Jagg]

I do crack my knuckles ( and by back). What cracking knuckles is the tendon expanding to fill the space between the bones. Which, which has been proven to lead to a decrease in your grip strength over time, as well as stretching of said tendons. While the arthritis thing hasn't been proven, is really is not very good for the tendons of your fingers.

ummmmmm Source? I demand proof!!. I crack my knuckles...I also rock climb. I've never noticed any change in grip strength.

Curious I am

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

ummmmmm Source? I demand proof!!. I crack my knuckles...I also rock climb. I've never noticed any change in grip strength.

Curious I am

It's not one of those things that happens over night, but wait 30 years or so, and you'll notice a difference (if you keep cracking your knuckles of course).

[FdL]

ummmmmm Source? I demand proof!!. I crack my knuckles...I also rock climb. I've never noticed any change in grip strength.

Then I really hope you don't... v.v :p

[Trog]

I crack things occasionally. But I try and crack my back often. Though I usually need my kids walking on my back or Thes pounding on me. Cracking your upper back or extreme lower back feels gooooooood.

As for chiropractors I have mixed feelings about them. Though I will say that my ex had back problems for a decade... then went to see the chiropractor after throwing her back out nd has been doing much better ever since. So there's probably something to it. Just don't overdo the visits I guess. :smallconfused:

[Icewalker]

The impression I get from chiropractors is that:
It feels good, and as such probably removes stress
Other than that, it isn't medically beneficial.

[Supagoof]

From my knowledge of chirpractors, it's not really the "cracking" that helps, it's the allignment. Over time, from improper posture or non-use of muscles, your body begins to contort itself. After more time, the contortion leads to pain. The allignment of your bones to their proper place is what feels good, but muscle memory usually wins and pulls you right back out of allignment - hence chiropracting not being seen as a good practice, because results vary due to this.

A good chiropractor will not just allign you right, but will also give you a regiment of exercise to help the muscles that keep your stuff alligned strengthed.

My wife has something that's called degenerative neck disorder. What it means is that the natural curve of her neck is straightening out. As such, it doesn't act like a the shock absorber it should be. Thus she has headaches. So to help, she has a steady routine of exercise to strengthen the shoulder muscles that keep the curve in place, plus special sleeping pillows and stuff. Since finding this out/seeing the chiropractor, it has helped immensely.

So they (chiropractors) aren't all crocs. Beware of ones who just want make you visit over and over again offering no "timeline" of when you'll be fixed. It will take multiple visits, but there should be an end.

Getting back to topic of knuckle cracking, I crack many joints myself. My knuckles are larger then my fingers, so I have the rattly ring on my finger like Hippie. But for the time I've been able to do this with joints, I've noticed no extra pain in them. Though I have seen an increase in the # of joints I'm able to crack (elbows, neck, knees, ankles, toes, ribs, etc....). Perhaps the gasses that escape have found their way to other joints in my body, thus leading to the "Another year, another cracking joint" phenom I'm experiencing.

[Fin]

Just letting everyone know that I am a proud knuckle cracker of many years but I did have a fright the other day.

I am in my final year of university and I am currently sitting my exams (last one is tomorrow,yay!) I was just near the end of a three hour essay based exam on thursday when I cracked my knuckles. All was going fine until I reached my thumb! I cracked it as normal when it kinda dislocated, it popped right back in but I yelped in shock/pain and nearly got thrown out of my exam! So there ya go folks, there is a time and a place. Bear that in mine.

[Dihan]

I try not to crack any bones, though when it has been especially cold and I haven't opened my mouth my jaw cracks. It makes eating a pain! My knees also ocassionally crack when I stand up, it's quite annoying when that happens.

What can I say? I'm squeamish. :smallredface:

[Lolzords]

I crack my knuckles and my neck, but that's it. I don't think it's linked to arthritis or anything, which is good caus it's bloody addictive.

[Serpentine]

My jaw cracks when I get stressed. It can get quite painful :smallfrown:

[Thanatos 51-50]

My jaw cracks when I get stressed. It can get quite painful :smallfrown:

And then it hurts every time you yawn for the rest of the day, right?
Or is that just me?

[Serpentine]

I don't know about "the rest of the day", but pretty much all the time, yeah.

[Don Beegles]

I crack my knuckle compulsively (it drives my girlfriend wild, but I don't even think about it at this point), and my back when I have a chair I can brace me legs in.

I've been cracking my knuckles for quite a while, and the only think I've noticed is that they don't crack quite so easily as they used to. They are also very long and knobbly, but I'm never sure if that's the cracking or the borderline Marfan.

My back does the same thing; I started cracking it this year, and cracked it every couple hours for some time. Now it doesn't crack as much anymore. I don't know why it is, but it's a pain, especially when my back's stiff and I can't do anything about it.

[Player_Zero]

I can crack my wrists via rotation... But I think that it HAS given me some sort of wrist problems... That and the fact that I'm always on the PC, typing...

Heh... Limp-wristed...

Also, I don't see why people don't like the sound of it. Squeaky sounds are much worse.