I crack my knuckles and joints very often. about more than 30 times a day . Altough i know its bad for you on the long run. I find that it releases some tensions from my fingers. So before I do anything nimble. like playing classical guitar. I will have to Crack my joints. not only knuckles but also the joints in the fingers. I am learning on how to crack my neck. My fren does it flawlesly. Also have to learn how to crack my spine.

you are using the word 'learn'. Doesn't that mean that you don't need to do it? Are you getting tension in the spine that you need to 'learn' how to actually crack it?

I wouldnt mess with your neck. My neck felt great before I started cracking it and now I have all sorts of problems with it.

i know it sounds bad learning to crack ur neck. but imagine u get into a fight. and just before u start fighting u look the other guy in the eye and crack ur neck twice by twisting ur head each way. that would look pretty cool, also u would look like a hard nut. lol i am always impressed when my fren does it. a good party trick

Actually it is a myth that cracking knuckles causes damage. The biomedical engineering department at my university says that you would have to do it constanstly for 30 years to cause a problem.

The biomedical engineering department at my university says that you would have to do it constanstly for 30 years to cause a problem.

 

I think thats exacly what people do.

yeah. 30 years is nothing! considering that you start it when you are 15, at the age of 45, you'd have done damage. And that is what is expected by many people. It doesn't destroy your knuckles so badly that you can't move them on the first day

yeah i started at age less than 15, learning new ways as well rite now.

You misunderstood me. When you crack your knuckle you are causing a change in pressure and some gas "boils" out of sinovial fluid. It takes about 15 minutes to dissolve again, that is why you cannot crack them for a while after you do it.

 

You would have to crack your knucles every 15 minutes constantly non stop without sleeping for 30 years to cause any damage.

oh ok. sorry . Its yet a foolsih thing to do, becuase if lots of it does damage to ur body, then, won't a little of it do a little damage to ur body?

No, the sound is a result of the gas "boiling" out of the sinovial fluid and causing a change in pressure. It is really just a scare story that people use to try and stop people from doing it. Any damage will come from the wearing down of knuckle joints. But bone is a tough substance and it will really take a lot of wear and tear to affect the joint at all. Also it does not affect your chances of getting arthritus or any joint disease.

You misunderstood me. When you crack your knuckle you are causing a change in pressure and some gas "boils" out of sinovial fluid. It takes about 15 minutes to dissolve again' date=' that is why you cannot crack them for a while after you do it.

 

You would have to crack your knucles every 15 minutes constantly non stop without sleeping for 30 years to cause any damage.[/quote']

no gas "BOILS" at all !!!? what ARE you on about?

the fact you can`1t do it for another 15 mins is (and that`s an arbitrary figure) is that it takes that amount of time for evereything to settle back into situ again.

 

you also said:

"AntiMagicManNo, the sound is a result of the gas "boiling" out of the sinovial fluid and causing a change in pressure. It is really just a scare story that people use to try and stop people from doing it. Any damage will come from the wearing down of knuckle joints. But bone is a tough substance and it will really take a lot of wear and tear to affect the joint at all. Also it does not affect your chances of getting arthritus or any joint disease.

 

it`s nothing to do with scare stories at all! and the "BONE" is not the issue either, it`s the cartilage (sp), secondly, although bone isn`t the 1`st to be affected in this activity, arthritis will certainly be expediated by it!

no gas "BOILS" at all !!!? what ARE you on about?

the fact you can`1t do it for another 15 mins is (and that`s an arbitrary figure) is that it takes that amount of time for evereything to settle back into situ again.

 

 

Actually from here you can read:

 

 

If you've ever laced your fingers together' date=' turned your palms away from you and bent your fingers back, you know what knuckle popping sounds like. Joints produce that CRACK when bubbles burst in the fluid surrounding the joint.

[/quote']

displacement yes, boiling no

Pedantic, yes .

 

My basic point still remains, it is not harmful.

Just about every movable joint on my body can crack. It's most dramatic with my knees; almost every time I crouch down to pick up something, the pop they generate can be heard across the room! I can't think of a joint that I haven't popped. Shoulder, elbows, ankles, jawbone, my ribcage, that metacarpal bone-thingy under my thumb, my toes, my foot-bones... Have I left anything out?

 

Somehow, I don't think this is a good thing, especially since I'm a ripe old eighteen...

no, cracking joints is not good for you at all, but as i haven read 3 pages, im guessing that may have been said alread

ummm...about the "not-being-able-to-crack-for-15-min"thing, i can crack both of my thumbs like 10 times in a row, then if i stop crack the other, i can come back and crack the first another 10 times and the cycle repeats. Btw for bloodhound about the learning the neck/back thing. I strongley suggest not doing it. Since i've found out that i could crack them, my neck and back hurt so damn much! Also you wont be able to stop cracking them easily and i've heard that cracking the neck/spine could lead to unwanted problems. Btw whats the verdict? Is hand cracking bad for you? There seems to be evidence going both ways so im kinda stuck in the middle and wondering what's your verdict?

I would say that it is bad, as I heard that it causes Arthritis.

I would say that it is bad, as I heard that it causes Arthritis.

Also it does not affect your chances of getting arthritus or any joint disease.

"I heard..." carries no weight here whatsoever.

The popping in your knuckles is caused by air bubbles being released from the 'cushy' thick gel like substance that pads your joints and stops the bones rubbing together. The more you crack your knuckles the more this gel deteriates and can lead to an early onset of athritis in people who are more suseptable. The bubbles build up as a result of joint movement so the longer between cracks the louder the noise(generally speaking). You test the theory by wiggling your fingers for a few minutes then crack your knuckles.

 

Other joints in your body can crack for similar reasons although in the case of your shoulders and back it can be more a result of manipulating your bones into reallignment with the surrounding tissue/tendons.

 

As a side note, I don't want to offend any chiropracters we may have here but I advise anyone with back and neck problems to see an osteopath rather than a chiropracter. Studies have shown forceful manipulation of the spinal cord may temporarily alieviate pain and discomfort but does not put you in good sted as your body ages. Osteopaths are more likely to give you gentle repeatative exercises that will realign you spinal column much more naturally.

I used to crack my fingers but stopped doing it. It is pretty hard to stop since the first couple of days you have the feeling having lost flexibiilty. This feeling goes away after some days though. Since most parts of the body seem to crack naturally i dont think there is any harm in cracking your knuckles deliberately either. Though without proper research there is no way of being sure and why take the risk ?

 

Mandrake

and most pianists seem to crack their fingers and knuckles before their rehearshals?!! or is it only in films and cartoons that they do that?

and most pianists seem to crack their fingers and knuckles before their rehearshals?!! or is it only in films and cartoons that they do that?

 

I have no idea if they do it for real or not, though the image seems pretty commonplace.

 

I dont think that cracking your knuckles will do all that much harm. Why do you want to crack your neck ? If it doesnt naturally why do it ?

 

Mandrake