Is Cracking Your Knuckles Bad For You?
What Is a Joint?
NO, I'm not talking about the thing that you smoke…
A joint is where two bones meet. Some joints are fixed, and some are mobile. There are actually 3 major types of mobile joints. The most common type is called a synovial joint, which is what your knuckles are. It's called this because we have synovial fluid in the middle that keeps your joints from rubbing each other as well as making the joint more flexible and mobile. This synovial fluid has has lots of dissolved gases within the fluid such as O2, Nitrogen, CO2 as well as nutrients for the neighboring cells.
What happens when you crack your joint?
Moving the joint stretches the capsule inside. As the volume increases, it allows those little bubbles of O2, Nitrogen, and CO2 gas to rise to the surface, clump together, then pop as more fluid fills the spaces. This creates the "cracking" sound that's oh so famously refreshing.
Although it is important to mention that not all cracking is actually this sound
Cracking of knees or ankles can be from the tendons and ligaments overlapping and snapping back into place as you abruptly stand. This is completely NORMAL.
There is a purpose..removal of these bubbles ultimately creates more space within the joint. This is usually why cracking joints can allow transient increase in mobility as well as a general overall good feeling. Also, after you crack your knuckles, or any joint for that matter, you actually can't again for about 15 min. This is because it takes the joint that long to get back to its original size and more gasses to dissolve back into the fluid ready to form again
Is It Bad For You?
Generally it’s actually pretty harmless. It does NOT lead to arthritis
Donald Unger a doctor conducted an experiment of his own to test this theory. He cracked all the knuckles on his left hand at least 2x daily for more than 60 years and used his right hand as a control but leaving those knuckles un-cracked. What was found? Donald had absolutely no sign of arthritis in either hand. He published this study and actually won a Nobel prize.
However, if you find yourself in PAIN while you do so? Probably bad. If you find that you NEED to crack in order to get relief..also probably bad. If you have any concerns about your joints, please consult your local healthcare professional
SOURCES:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/1529-0131(199805)41%3A5<949%3A%3AAID-ART36>3.0.CO%3B2-3
