What happens when you crack your knuckles?

[DuckRacer]

Really. I've always wondered.

 

[Evolution.]

...

Alot of the questions in here can be answered by Google, but no one chooses to take the easy route.

 

[TopHat]

You get arthritis from stretching out cartilage.

 

[Evolution.]

Negative, Matt. All you're doing is expelling gas from your joints. It doesn't lead to guaranteed arthritis, but it can cause some hand problems and loss of strength.

 

[Zrow]

...

Alot of the questions in here can be answered by Google, but no one chooses to take the easy route.

Sure, but posting it here promotes discussion about the topic, and you may be able to gain some insight you wouldn't normally get from a Google search.

 

[Wolfe]

If Jordan had really intended for this forum to have nothing but questions unanswerable with Google, it'd be empty.

I crack my knuckles semi-regularly, so I hope there aren't any long-term effects, arthritis or not...

 

[Delirious]

Also I'm sure the OP wants some real-life answers from people on this board...not some article.

 

[Klostrophobic]

I cracked my knuckles at least five times while reading this thread. I notice no pain in my my knuckles; it just feels so damn cool to crack them.

I crack everything--my knees, ankles, knuckles, wrist, neck, elbow, shoulder, back. I wish I could crack my hip. I also wish I could stop because I don't think anything good can come of it. I don't know if anything bad can come, but I don't really want to find out.

 

[Tommi]

I do it all the time its funny cos it scares the hell out of some of my mates.
I can also crack my big toe but i think i might have broke or fractured that cos its the only one that does it.

 

[Boundary Layer]

I crack everything--my knees, ankles, knuckles, wrist, neck, elbow, shoulder, back. I wish I could crack my hip.

I do all this as well. I also can pop my sternum while standing (feels disgusting), and my hips while laying on my back.

More often than not I do not intend to do it. Occasionally if I've been writing or typing a lot I'll purposely crack my knuckles, but everything else happens involuntarily. For example, when I climb stairs my right knee clicks with each step, or if I d pushups my elbows will crack for the first two or three.

I wish it would stop. It's annoying and certainly can't be doing anything good for me.

 

[Duke]

I used to be able to get a good 6-8 cracks out of my spine and 2-4 out of my neck. Now I'm in a wheelchair and I can't turn my head more than 45 degrees.




Just kidding.

Actually what happened is I lost the ability to crack all those joints as I got older. Now it just feels like they need to be cracked, but won't.

 

[Sage]

I used to be able to get a good 6-8 cracks out of my spine and 2-4 out of my neck.

I always crack those areas (even more so than my knuckles) – nothing like waking up and doing a couple of back twists to get the crck-crck-crck-crck out.

 

[Sureboss]

I do all this as well. I also can pop my sternum while standing (feels disgusting), and my hips while laying on my back.

More often than not I do not intend to do it. Occasionally if I've been writing or typing a lot I'll purposely crack my knuckles, but everything else happens involuntarily. For example, when I climb stairs my right knee clicks with each step, or if I d pushups my elbows will crack for the first two or three.

I wish it would stop. It's annoying and certainly can't be doing anything good for me.

Sternum?

That doesn't even sound possible..

 

[Duke]

It is. It happens to me occasionally. If you put your hands on your kidneys and do a big backwards bend, sometimes your sternum will pop.

 

[Talentless]

You get harry palms and Jesus' disapproval.

 

[Sage]

I can pop my sternum by bending backwards while sitting in a chair.

 

[Zrow]

Your sternum? My back usually cracks when I do that (the chairs we have here are perfect for it), but I don't think I've ever felt my sternum do any cracking.

 

[Boundary Layer]

Sternum?

That doesn't even sound possible..

While standing I outstretch my arms sidways at shoulder height and arch backwards. Then I pivot my arms backwards as far as I can so that my wrists are somewhere behind my back (arms are still outstretched to the side) and inhale.
That'll do it.

It feels gross though, so don't waste your afternoon trying to do it.
It's not a normal crack or crunch like most joint cracks. For me it's a pretty loud pop or clunk.

 

[Sureboss]

This may sound silly but..

As this 'cracking' involves joints, I'm struggling to understand how you can crack your sternum, because of what I'm looking at on the web, it's got no joints. As the ribs are connected by cartilage.

http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/biology/humananatomy/skeletal/sternum/sternum.html

 

[Slicks]

Apparently, and this is only from what I've heard...

Doing the typical fist-type knuckle crack on your hands will eventually damage the joints. However, pulling the fingers straight out will do minimal damage over a long period of time, if any at all.