Does It Really Cause Arthiritis?
By Lynn Crain
When I decided to do this article, I had one goal and one goal only…and that was to debunk the myth that cracking my knuckles would cause me to have a variety of problems. You see, I am a chronic knuckle cracker. And I've been told all my life by well-intentioned people that I will damage my joints and get the dreaded disease arthritis.
I crack my knuckles at least once a day and sometimes more if I am nervous or my hands are uncomfortable. And I have a set of friends who tell me each and every time the same thing about arthritis to the point of being annoying.
I had seen a show during a doctor's visit once that confirmed my suspicions that everyone was wrong and I was right. But when researching this article, I was surprised to find only a few sources regarding this issue and even fewer actual medical studies. Therefore, this is definitely an area that needs more research.
Here are my findings from all the available research on the Internet. I do need to note that if you Google the phrase ‘cracking knuckles' you will get 62,500 hits. Obviously, I didn't go to each and every site. I did go through the first one hundred, and was amazingly surprised to find the same research, names, and conclusions repeated over and over again.
The basic definition of knuckle cracking is the manipulation of one's fingers such that the joints of the finger produce a sharp popping sound. People tend to bend their fingers in unusual positions or in ways that aren't commonly seen in everyday use. Some people bend the fingers backwards toward their hands, some people pull the fingers away from their hands, and then there is myself, who bends the fingers and pushes the joint until I hear a pop.
Most people have seen the act of popping knuckles in cartoons or movies as part of a tough guy image usually accompanied by the threat of some other type of bodily harm. And while many people can't stand the noise because it does remind them of a violent act, the actual physical cause is unknown. The following are suggestions about the cause of the popping sound: 1) cavitations within the joint – this is where the small cavities of partial vacuum form in the fluid then rapidly collapse to produce a sharp sound; 2) the sudden stretching of ligaments; 3) the release of gas from the joints being adjusted as what happens during a chiropractic manipulation.
While a single joint popping experience is not enough to cause damage, it has been suggested that continued incidents might lead to a higher risk of joint damage. However, the long-term effects of cracking your knuckles every day have not been studied enough and the current data has proved inconclusive at best.
So let's look in more detail at what actually happens when one cracks their knuckles. Joints are where two bones meet and are held together by connective tissue. All joints are more >>
