It doesnt cause arthritis or make your knuckles larger, but it can be distracting or loud to people around you. Also ironic is that my ra has caused me to become a knucklecracker. Cracking your knuckle joints does not cause arthritis, this is an old wives tale image. So i think its unlikely cracking joints in hands leads to arthritis.
Thats the conclusion of several studies that compared rates of hand arthritis among habitual knucklecrackers and people who didnt crack their knuckles. The art of knuckle cracking may be cringeinducing to some, but practitioners are not necessarily setting themselves up for a lifetime of antiinflammatory medications and mentholated hand cremes. You can understand the answer better if you get an idea of exactly why you hear that cracking sound. Cracking your knuckles doesnt cause harm, so it shouldnt be painful, cause swelling, or change the shape of the joint. While one 1990 study linked longterm joint popping to hand swelling and lower grip strength, there isnt any more. It turns out there is no scientific correlation between cracking your knuckles and developing arthritis in your joints.
Knuckle cracking has not been shown to be harmful or beneficial. You may have heard that cracking your knuckles can cause arthritis. The short term change in pressure in each joint you crack is unlikely to have any negative impact on the. If a joint gets locked when it pops, knuckle cracking could lead to injuries in your hand.
He simply wanted to prove that cracking his knuckles didnt cause arthritis. Knuckle cracking doesnt cause arthritis, but some research suggests the habit may not be completely harmless. Some patients with arthritis inflammation of joints, usually painful, bursitis, or tendinitis notice cracking sounds due to the snapping of irregular, swollen tissues. There is a third variable that causes both arthritis and the cracking of the knuckles. Multiple studies have indicated that there is no evidence to suggest cracking knuckles causes or worsens arthritis. This is a common assumption, but one that has been disproven. If you are concerned about what damage might be caused by cracking knuckles, listen to summit orthopedics experts share some of the reasons why that might be.
Have you ever cracked your knuckles and had someone yell at you to stop because it causes arthritis. Ironically, 25 years later my childhood friends joints are doing great, and i am the one with arthritis. Even if knuckle cracking doesnt cause arthritis, theres still good reason to let go of the habit. The most common form of arthritis affecting the body generally and the hands, in particular, is osteoarthritis. Subsequently, my mother blamed it on my knuckle cracking.
Many studies have found that though cracking of knuckles is not linked with arthritis, it is associated with impaired hand functions. For more information on keeping your hand healthy, nimble, and strong. As it turns out, the notion that cracking your knuckles leads to problems is one of those popular. People who go for habitual cracking of knuckles experience symptoms of impaired hand functions like lower grip strength, swelling in the area etc. Chronic knucklecracking may lead to reduced grip strength. The department of orthopedics noted there is no evidence that knuckle cracking causes arthritis. If cracking is accompanied by pain, there could be underlying abnormalities of the structures of the joint, such as loose cartilage or injured ligaments.
Cracking your knuckles releases gas, in the form of nitrogen bubbles, from the space around your joints. And although studies show theres no link between the cracking your joints and the stiff, painful joints that arthritis cause, we shouldnt indulge in our addiction anyway. While its painful for everyone around you to hear, youre not doing any harm to your joints, bones, or muscles when you crackunless it hurts when you crack them. Understanding what physically occurs when you crack your knuckles will help you realize that the knuckle cracking causes arthritis theory is actually just a popular myth. I am 18 years old and i have been cracking my knuckles for about 45 years now. This may make some people habitual knuckle crackers. Cracked knuckles feel looser and enjoy more mobility for a while after cracking. When people learn that i am an orthopedic surgeon specializing in upper extremities, the most common question im asked is, does cracking knuckles cause arthritis or is it bad for you.
I have started to notice pain in my hands and wrists and my knuckles and wrist joints are getting bigger. The results, published in the 1998 edition of the journal arthritis and rheumatism, revealed that despite cracking the knuckles on his left hand at least 36,500 times. If the inflammation doesnt go away, then arthritis in the knuckles is said to be chronic. It doesnt cause arthritis or make your knuckles larger, but it can be distracting or. To find out if knucklecracking is harmful, researchers have studied whether crepitus popping or grinding of the knuckle joints can raise the risk for hand osteoarthritis. Arthritis is a condition when the points where your bones meet in the joint space develop inflammation and loss of the cartilage surface. Arthritis causes knuckle cracking, not the other way around.
Cracking joints is often a habit for people who do it frequently. A doctor cracked his own knuckles for 60 years to prove it. Pain, swelling, or limited motion are signs that the joint has damagepossibly from arthritis, trauma, or gout, says dr. A doctor cracked his own knuckles for 60 years to prove it doesnt cause arthritis. These are signs that something is wrong, and you should be evaluated by. Usually, the inflammation in the knuckles subsides when the cause is found and treated. Cracking knuckles will not cause arthritis, nor will it make your knuckles bigger. A study conducted in 1990 showed chronic knuckle cracking may affect hand health. In spite of what youve probably heard, that is not the case, and its actually like yoga for your knuckles. Arthritis in knuckles symptoms 5 warning signs body. There are isolated reports of accidental selfinflicted injury from knucklecracking, with injured thumbs and sprained finger. Research studies comparing knuckle crackers to noncrackers have had mixed results. There is no medical evidence that knuckle cracking causes arthritis. Cracking your knuckles throughout your lifetime will eventually cause you to have arthritis.
There is no evidence that cracking knuckles causes any damage such as arthritis in the joints. Does cracking your back or knuckles cause arthritis. Cracking your knuckles may be annoying to others around you, but can it really cause arthritis later in life or is this one of those socalled bad habits that arent really that bad for you. If you are one of those people who sits and cracks your knuckles while others wince, at some point somebody is bound to have told you that cracking your joints gives you arthritis. Perhaps the most important thing to understand about the relationship between cracking knuckles and arthritis is there is no relationship between cracking knuckles and arthritis. We are all told this fact but it surely has crossed everyones minds at one point. Tenyearold boys love to make noises with their body, so its not surprising your son is intrigued with the sound.
For example, having a family history of arthritis might cause your arthritis and also stress you out, causing you to crack your knuckles. Although cracking your knuckles doesnt cause arthritis as is sometimes claimed, one study found that it can lead to other problems such as joint swelling and loss of hand strength, or could even be a sign of more serious nervous disorders, depending on the severity and length of the habit. And there are at least two published reports of injuries suffered while people were trying to crack their knuckles. Here are answers to questions about cracking your knuckles, including why knuckles crack, if knucklecracking causes arthritis or is bad for you, and how to stop cracking your knuckles. What should i know about cracking knuckles and arthritis. If a joint gets locked when it pops, knuckle cracking could lead to injuries in. The short term change in pressure in each joint you crack is unlikely to have any negative. I thought popping knuckles would give me arthritis, but instead my arthritis. If knuckle cracking is accompanied by pain, swelling, or stiffness, it may be hand osteoarthritis. Habitual knucklecracking wont cause osteoarthritis or joint enlargement. Will i really get arthritis if i crack my knuckles. If its is as natural to you as breathing, you may want to consider ditching the habitespecially if it produces pain. Cracking your knuckles makes you sound like a bowl of rice krispies and never goes over well in church.
According to research, cracking your knuckles isnt harmful. However, a couple of reports in the medical literature are available associating knuckle cracking with injury of the ligaments surrounding the joint or dislocation of the tendons. Cracking your knuckles may aggravate the people around you, but it probably wont raise your risk for arthritis. Cracking knuckles does not appear to cause or worsen arthritis, but it can soften the grip and lead to soft tissue swelling. Does cracking your knuckles lead to arthritis answers. Cracking your knuckles isnt exactly good for youthough it may feel good.
However, arthritis tends to run in my family so im almost certain that is the cause. Arthritis can affect different joints all over the body. Thats right or at the very least plausible that youve had it backwards all these years. If you dont experience pain while knuckle cracking, then youre free to indulge yourself, even if your occasional snapping, cracking, and popping sometimes startles those around you. From interviews done with nursing home residents to the memorable case of a researcher who cracked the knuckles of only one of his hands for a 60year period, there is no proven link between cracking your knuckles and an increased incidence. Arthritis and cracking knuckles the reason people associate knucklecracking with arthritis because it makes a cracking noise and, if something cracks, it must be being damaged. More specifically, knuckle cracking does not cause arthritis. During his fivedecade experiment, unger cracked the knuckles on his left hand and not on his right. Whenever my friends cracked their knuckles, i worried that they were damaging their bones.
Arthritis causes one to crack their knuckles reverse causation. Habits that experts and doctors say could lead to cancer. Wont they end up with arthritis someday because of the knuckle cracking. Ok, but could cracking your knuckles cause other forms of damage. You hear the sound when you stretch your fingers and expand the joint, which in turn reduces pressure between the joint. The cracking occurs for numerous reasons, and it is commonly thought to cause or inflame arthritis between 25 and 54 percent of people are. While such joint cracking doesnt lead to arthritis, medical journals do contain reports of people who injured their ligaments while cracking their knuckles. Furthermore, at thanksgiving i asked my uncle, who is a physical therapist, if he believed that cracking my knuckles would cause this. It is also possible that as kids people realize that cracking knuckles produces a funny noise and may repeat cracking just to produce the sound. Cracking knuckles may cause impaired hand functions. Everyone knows that cracking knuckles causes arthritis. Thats good news if you like to crack your knuckles, but its bad news for those of us who cant stand it when you do it. Cracking your fingers, neck or back 5, 10 or 20 times a day, every day could make your supporting ligaments lax. Joint cracking can result from a negative pressure pulling nitrogen gas temporarily into the joint, such as when knuckles are cracked.
1224 1080 384 163 764 1223 310 890 654 847 164 270 12 540 439 465 25 1259 672 902 1251 1511 716 1274 947 686 760 89 1120 583 71 65