Does cracking your knuckles lead to arthritis?

[FrogDog]

I crack my knucles constantly. I can even crack my toes but try not to do that as much

So will I get arthritis by the time I'm 30/40 (16 now) if I continue to do it?

Edit - I can't spell

 

[Viper GTS]

No.

Viper GTS

 

[Russ]

No.

Russ, NCNE

 

[UG]

It's a leading cause of brain dammage.

nucles /= knuckles

 

[Impact55]

I heard cracking bones does, Im dumb

 

[FrogDog]

Alright! *crack crack crack* woohoo

 

[toph99]

i asked my doc about it, because i already get pains in my hand etc. and crack them to relieve it, she said that it can, but i dunno if she's right or not

 

[abracadabra1]

yes

 

[AlphaIVT]

yeah, my mom and dad said that that will cause arthiritis, but even if i doesn't, I will still believe my mom and dad.

 

[yllus]

Interesting question. I just did some online research, and came up with the following report located here. He goes quite a bit in depth on the subject, but I'll just post his personal conclusion:



<< There's weak evidence for some damage to the joints; there's a reasonable, but speculative, model for the mechanism. There is hard evidence that the effect is not inevitable; not all members of the knuckle-cracking groups showed damage. I would conclude, personally, that it's quite likely that cracking your knuckles could lead to some unpleasantness down the road; and since there's little reason to continue an annoying and asocial habit, I'd suggest quitting. But since your loved ones have probably already suggested this many a time, it's unlikely you'll take my word for it. >>



Never done it much myself. Nasty habit.

 

[Total Refected Power]

Yes. Along with:

Blindness and Hairy palms.

 

[Vikaden]

Ive heard no, that the popping sound you hear is the air bubbles escaping from the cartlidge between your joints.

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Vik - I'm pretty sure it was fluid escaping from joints, not bubbles.

And no it does not cause arthritis.

I love popping my toes *crack*

 

[Vikaden]

retraced my post after being backed up, by DanC

 

[DanC]

Joints are lubricated with &quot;Bursa&quot; -
In many individuals, the bursa forms small bubbles within the joint. This leads to the feeling that it is not properly lubricated (which at this time it is not) - and the action of stretching the joint lowers the pressure within the joint to the point that the bubbles pop, thereby relieving the feeling.

It is the bubbles, not the joint popping. It will in no way cause arthritis.

 

[Mday]

sometimes when i twist at my waste, i crack my spine...

sometimes when i move my head around, i crack my neck...

i can manually create a cracking sound with some of my knuckles, that is i can continuously make that sound...

 

[Aquaman]

Nope

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[thraashman]

DanC mentioned Bursa, and I've heard it doesn't cause arthritis, but it can cause bursitis, which can be quite painful and seem similar to arthritis. But i have no medical backing of this, it's just hearsay.

 

[CatWoman]

I crack my knees every morning! Oh and my wrists, back, neck, fingers. The neck is the best though!

 

[Wangel]

I can crack my wrist, (probably from an old football injury) real loud. It seems the longer I wait to crack it (week or more) the louder it is. Sometimes when my wife is sleeping, I'll crack my wrist right by her ear. She'll jump up wanting to know what the loud noise was. Of course, I play like I'm asleep!

Once, at a restaurant, the waiter handed me a platter of food to pass. My wrist went into the right position and a loud pop came from it. The waiter started to panic that he might have damaged my wrist. I got a free meal out of that one!

 

[The LIdless Eye]

Nope. I think it's a urban legend made up by parents.