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QDear 100 Hour Board, is cracking your kunckles bad for you? i like to pop joints all over my body, but people often tell me that it is bad for me and will give me arthritus. i asked my doctor, and he said that is it fine, but i want to know for sure. -Cracker ADear Cracker (of knuckles, I assume, and not the racial slur), I have the strangest feeling I've read that question before. Let me check through the archives real quick. (types in "cracking knuckles") (hums to self) (drums fingers on desk) (sifts through responses) Ah, here we are. Decide which response you like best out of Board Question #887, Board Question #4367, and Board Question #13378. Glad to be of service. - The Huntsman ADear Cracker, I think this is the first time someone has asked The Board to confirm something that their doctor already told them. Usually things work the other way around. Regardless, I would tend to trust a doctor. Even so, when you crack your knuckles, you are usually pushing a joint into or out of its normal position. When this happens, there is a pressure change in your synovial fluid that creates the popping noise. There is no scientific evidence that knuckle cracking leads to arthritis or any of the other evil diseases your mom used to scare you. Most of those rumors were create and circulated by mothers. The one study on knuckle cracking that I could find was done by Raymond Brodeur and published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. Dr. Brodeur "examined 300 knuckle crackers for evidence of joint damage. The results revealed no apparent connection between joint cracking and arthritis; however, habitual knuckle poppers did show signs of other types of damage, including soft tissue damage to the joint capsule and a decrease in grip strength. This damage is most likely a result of the rapid, repeated stretching of the ligaments surrounding the joint." (http://science.howstuffworks.com/question437.htm) So, the only damage you could do to your hands by popping knuckles is decreasing your grip strength by stretching out the soft tissue. Anyways, my point is: your doctor was right. Don't worry about it... especially if a doctor tells you something is OK. Even so, cracking your knuckles may still annoy your mother. There is nothing we can do about that. - Floyd Back |
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