Cracking knuckles and the consequences of it

Now I'm not here to try cause a stir or make people worry about their health futures, but this is to once and for all find out what if this is indeed bad for you, or just a worry about nothing.

I've heard all sorts of negative things about clicking the knuckles and haven't fully understood what it is and what it does....so let's explore a bit.

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What is cracking knuckles or joints?

Popping or cracking your joints is not your bones rubbing against each other to produce the popping, cracking, creaking and grinding sound.
It is however quite a common phenomenon that up to 54% of people experience. Actually many of those people purposefully crack their joints to produce the sounds.

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I don' know if you're one of those people, but when people regularly do it, I find it quite 'rude' or frustrating personally, and don't understand why they want to do it in front of others.
Am I the only one who doesn't like it when they do it?

It is however something that mainly males do. So perhaps this article is more for us?

Here are some reasons the world says cause the cracking of joints, however not all are true:

1. Synovial fluid bubbles

This is the most common reason I've heard for the popping of the joints.

It is this, that when the joint is extended the pressure inside the joint is lowered, allowing the gases that are present in the joint (CO2) are then released in the form of a bubble.
So the extended joints create a vacuum that the gases fill, and then when pulled there is a a collapse due to the dramatic increase in surrounding pressure....this collapse is the popping sound you hear.

This is also known as Cavitation.

1. Cavity formation

With modern technology we have been able to ascertain that the bubble theory is in fact not what generally happens, however it is not completely disproved.
There are still quite a few chiro's and sites speaking of this being the reason for the clicking.
I however trust the fact that they researched it with an MRI as below, and I believe the bubble thing is not the main popping reason....especially since the air would not give the restricted movement that you feel when clicking your joints.

Using an MRI they have been able to watch what happens to the joints during the cracking of them. The results showed that at the point of joint separation or popping, there was a cavity that formed and even remained after the noise.

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No gas would have escaped if the cavity remained. Therefore it is said that the quick creation of this cavity was enough to create the popping sound as well.

1. Tendons that snap over joints

Another suggestion is that the sound is sometimes caused by the snapping of the tendons back into place on the joints.
These tendons are attached from the muscles to the bones to keep them in place, and through the movement it can pop as it slaps into place after the movements.

Ligaments(connecting bones to bones) may also do this as they tighten during the movements made on the joint.

These are the sounds that will generally be made from the knee and ankle joints.

1. Shoulder joints

As is the case with my wife, where the shoulder cracks painlessly (1 in 3 are painless), the reason for this is the soft tissue on the joint that is causing that sound. There are pressure changes during the movement and there is nothing to worry about.
Painful clicking in the shoulder is a different matter though, and could be due to arthritis or a tear in the joint.

Stretching should help!

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1. Arthritis

This may in fact be a reason for painful joint movements.

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Cracking knuckles causes arthritis?

This is pretty conclusive that the clicking of the joints does not CAUSE arthritis: *"The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences looked at 215 people, 20 percent of whom popped their knuckles regularly.

Of the knuckle crackers, 18.1 percent had arthritis in their hands, compared with 21.5 percent of participants who did not crack their knuckles.

The study showed that the chances of having arthritis are around the same whether or not you crack your joints."*
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However it is not healthy for a person to perform this habit.

In many researchers results, they have shown that those people that clicked their joints, especially their knuckles, didn't have any difference when it came to arthritis, BUT they had significantly negative affects on hand strength (they had a weaker grip)and more swelling in their hands and joints.

So for those people that bought into the whole bubble thing, and clicking my knuckles is nothing but fun, please be careful, there is a price to pay.....and its not just my nerves :).

Glad I could get back online again....will keep trying, but starting a new job, my responsibilities as the new Neighborhood watch chairman and church/family responsibilities have kept me from writing.

I miss reading the posts from my online friends....hope you're all well.