Does Knuckle Cracking Cause Long Term Damage Or Arthritis?

Does Cracking Your Knuckles Cause Long Term Damage?

And Can It Cause Arthritis?

I have a friend that has the knuckle cracking habit and he doesn’t only do it alone but under restaurant tables etc. and it would seem to me that it must cause damage if it’s repeated enough times but he swears it’s just a harmless habit.

I’m fairly sure that it does cause arthritis, although I seem to recall that arthritis is a disease.

So is it dangerous, and can it cause arthritis?

Thanks.

Written by: eagerwatcher

June 30th, 2012 in dangerous, health, medical, Misconceptions, pain

4 Comments

Reg SpraggJuly 20th, 2011 at 5:58 am

Plain old knuckle-cracking should not cause any damage because it doesn’t strain the ligaments or the tissues, or overextend them enough to cause arthritis.

So anatomically, physiologically, and mechanically, there’s no reason it should cause harm.

So what makes that worrying sound?

The cracking noise is caused by a gas, mainly carbon dioxide, that is usually dissolved in the synovial fluid that encapsulates most joints.

If you pull on the joint or distend the joint capsule, then the walls of the capsule expand, which causes a lowering of the pressure on the fluid inside it.

This causes the gas to come out of solution suddenly and form bubbles, which in turn makes a popping noise.

The stretching of the capsule also allows a temporary increase in the joint’s range of motion.

When you move the joint back into position, the fluid comes under normal pressure again, and the bubbles gradually go back into solution.

The time it takes to re-dissolve the carbon dioxide into the synovial fluid prevents the knuckle from cracking again for a few minutes.

Although the actual process of cracking a knuckle may take only a few milliseconds, the relief that some people feel from it is palpable, and many chiropractors make a business out of manipulating joints to reduce stress.

big-thoughtsJuly 20th, 2011 at 6:15 am

The term arthritis is in a sense a catchall phrase because there are over one hundred different kinds of so called arthritis.

The most common type is osteoarthritis which is a degenerative joint disease that is caused by a trauma to the joint, infection of the joint, or age.

Other arthritis forms are rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and autoimmune diseases in which the body attacks itself.

Septic arthritis is caused by joint infection.

The only thing that all of the above seem to have in common is pain, so whether or not cracking your knuckles can cause arthritis depends I guess on what type of arthritis you’re talking about.

But like Knopfman says, cracking your knuckles is probably a harmless habit to those that perform it, even if it’s sometimes annoying for those that witness it.

knopfmanJuly 20th, 2011 at 6:38 am

Your friend is right and just plain and simple knuckle-cracking shouldn’t cause any joint weakness, even if carried out on a long-term basis because it doesn’t strain either the ligaments or the tissues, nor overextend them.

In order to cause any real damage you literally have to disrupt the joint capsule through excessive force, like a ligament injury in a knee, or skier’s thumb and the forces generated by knuckle-cracking are relatively small in comparison.

Free adsJuly 20th, 2011 at 6:41 pm

I presume the reason differs from person to person. We’re only humans and as humans, the tendency is to act from a personal standpoint, protecting our own interest.