Cracking Your Knuckles.

Is that true that cracking your knuckles makes you get arthritis later on in life?

Does cracking your knuckles have any bad effects, or any good effects? Or any effects at all? And last but not least, what exactly causes your knuckles to crack when you crack them?

It makes your nuckles BIGGER, but does NOT cause arthritis. That's a myth.

What cause it? I dunno. I crack everything I can get my hands on. I punish my back and neck. # em. They aint doing nothing for me anyhoo.

I sure hope not. I crack everything I can too.

only thing it does for me is help me to move my fingers faster so i can play guitar better.

keep em crackin'

It has to make your knuckles bigger because I always only popped my right thumb out of habit. Now it is noticibly larger. Strange but true.

Nope it doesnt cause arthiritis or make your knuckles bigger it is just air coming out of your joints and it is harmless

so crack away!

My knuckles are quite large. I crack my fingers many times a day. I actually cracked my knuckles a few seconds before noticing this thread!

well according to the howstuffworks site there are points for and against knuckle cracking
check the link

science.howstuffworks.com...

It does make them bigger, that's no myth.

But if it's true that it doesn't cause arthritis (spelling?), than I'm happy, cuz I too crack them often. I had kinda stopped doing that (or almost) but I used to crack them all the time.

My fingers knuckles aren't really worrying me, but my neck sometimes crack in a strange way, and the heavy noize produced always worry me a bit ...

Originally posted by Bangin
I actually cracked my knuckles a few seconds before noticing this thread!

I cracked my knuckles during this thread...i do it every couple minutes...outta anxiety or boredeom [crack] i like the sound....but my parents dont...my mom keeps saying ima get arthritis...but now i can say its just myth....it also helps me type faster whcih is what i do the most [crack'

Are you people sure it's just a myth? Do they talk about it on the link Pantha posted ? (can't be bothered to read it right now, I'm supposed to be working lol...)

from the link I posted

300 knuckle crackers tested 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.

however it also says this

On the positive side, there is evidence of increased mobility in joints right after popping. When joints are manipulated, the Golgi tendon organs (a set of nerve endings involved in humans' motion sense) are stimulated and the muscles surrounding the joint are relaxed. This is part of the reason why people can feel "loose" and invigorated after leaving the chiropractor's office, where cavitation is induced as part of the treatment. Backs, knees, elbows and all other movable joints are subject to the same kind manipulation as knuckles are.

I know I'm always telling my son he will get arthritis , because he's always clicking, so I guess I can't say it any more.

Hey, thanks Pantha for that enlightement !

I'm glad I'm not a chronic knuckle cracker as I used to be... Good thing I quitted that.

Mmmm.....crack. Gotta love it!

Er...oh wait, you're not talking about THAT kind of crack.

lol! i love craking stuff! LOL! Knuckles... finger joints, ankles, neck, back... VERY satisfiying! LOL! I reckon my knuckles have gotten bigger too... increased mobility too... lol!!!

i'm about 95% sure that it leads to carpel tunnel syndrome.....i dont do it. enjoy it while you can do it laties

Read that article on the study on cracking knuckles, it was very interesting!

Originally posted by Azza
i'm about 95% sure that it leads to carpel tunnel syndrome.....i dont do it. enjoy it while you can do it laties

I am 100% sure it doesn't.

I also crack my knuckles all the time. I crack my back and my neck, I think I'm seriously gonna injure myself one day. I'm gonna crack my neck, and it'll go too far, and bam that's the end of Faisca. I hope that never happens =/

I just crack my knuckles before I write or play music, and crack my back whenever I can (it sounds cool).