{"id":298,"date":"2013-09-28T06:17:52","date_gmt":"2013-09-28T06:17:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stg-httpsdrpremcom-staging.kinsta.cloud\/wellness\/?p=298"},"modified":"2013-10-03T03:20:52","modified_gmt":"2013-10-03T03:20:52","slug":"will-cracking-your-knuckles-give-you-arthritis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stg-httpsdrpremcom-staging.kinsta.cloud\/wellness\/will-cracking-your-knuckles-give-you-arthritis\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Cracking Your Knuckles Give You Arthritis?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Some people crack their knuckles by pulling the tip of each finger one at a time until they hear a crack. Others make a tight fist or bend their fingers backwards away from the hand, cracking the lot at once. 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. There is no compelling scientific evidence that cracking your knuckles causes arthritis. But a long-standing habit could affect joint function down the road.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/stg-httpsdrpremcom-staging.kinsta.cloud\/wellness\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2013\/09\/hands-COMP-3161014.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-305 aligncenter\" alt=\"hands-COMP-3161014\" src=\"https:\/\/stg-httpsdrpremcom-staging.kinsta.cloud\/wellness\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2013\/09\/hands-COMP-3161014-300x225.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stg-httpsdrpremcom-staging.kinsta.cloud\/wellness\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2013\/09\/hands-COMP-3161014-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stg-httpsdrpremcom-staging.kinsta.cloud\/wellness\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2013\/09\/hands-COMP-3161014.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>What exactly happens when you crack your knuckles?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>A joint is the point at which two (or more) bones meet. Ligaments connect the bones to one another, and a\u00a0joint capsule\u00a0surrounds the whole thing. It is filled with a natural lubricant called\u00a0synovial fluid\u00a0that helps the joint move smoothly. When you make the motion to crack your knuckles, the joint is pulled apart, expanding the capsule. This decreases the pressure inside the capsule, forcing gasses dissolved in the synovial fluid to release into the space to equalize it. That rush of gas causes the pop sound which so satisfying to you and so annoying to everyone else in the room. It&#8217;s like popping the top on a can of soda.<\/p><div class=\"4938c18ed53534d9918c9dbce095d198\" data-index=\"2\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/stg-httpsdrpremcom-staging.kinsta.cloud\/wellness\/consultant\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/stg-httpsdrpremcom-staging.kinsta.cloud\/wellness\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/12\/Wellness-Post-Ad-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>Once the joints have been cracked they can\u2019t be cracked again for about fifteen minutes. This gives the space in the joint time to return to its normal size and for more gases to dissolve in the fluid, ready to form bubbles which can then pop all over again.\u00a0Taking an engineering approach, cracking the knuckles repeatedly over many decades could in theory damage the cartilage covering the joint. Comparisons have even been made with the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC1004074\/?tool=pubmed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mechanical wear and tear<\/a> occurred over time by ship\u2019s propellers, but the evidence that the same is happening in people\u2019s hands is thin.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/stg-httpsdrpremcom-staging.kinsta.cloud\/wellness\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2013\/09\/4259c783892c9d52ce8bf3fbed05f7.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-302 aligncenter\" alt=\"4259c783892c9d52ce8bf3fbed05f7\" src=\"https:\/\/stg-httpsdrpremcom-staging.kinsta.cloud\/wellness\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2013\/09\/4259c783892c9d52ce8bf3fbed05f7-300x238.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"238\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stg-httpsdrpremcom-staging.kinsta.cloud\/wellness\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2013\/09\/4259c783892c9d52ce8bf3fbed05f7-300x238.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stg-httpsdrpremcom-staging.kinsta.cloud\/wellness\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2013\/09\/4259c783892c9d52ce8bf3fbed05f7.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s true that people who already have arthritis sometimes find their joints crack because the cartilage of the surface of the joints has been damaged. However it is unusual for this to be the first symptom and it seems more likely to be a consequence of damage, rather than a cause. The risk factors of arthritis\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/16759885\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">that have been established<\/a>\u00a0are age, a family history of the condition, and previous accidents with hand, or a lifetime of working with your hands doing heavy labor.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some people crack their knuckles by pulling the tip of each finger one at a time until they hear a crack. Others make a tight fist or bend their fingers backwards away from the hand, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[55,52,56,23,54,58,57,22,53],"class_list":["post-298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellness-tourism-guide","tag-arthritis","tag-cracking","tag-exactly-happens","tag-featured","tag-give-you","tag-its-true","tag-once-the-joints","tag-top","tag-your-knuckles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stg-httpsdrpremcom-staging.kinsta.cloud\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stg-httpsdrpremcom-staging.kinsta.cloud\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stg-httpsdrpremcom-staging.kinsta.cloud\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stg-httpsdrpremcom-staging.kinsta.cloud\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stg-httpsdrpremcom-staging.kinsta.cloud\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stg-httpsdrpremcom-staging.kinsta.cloud\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stg-httpsdrpremcom-staging.kinsta.cloud\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stg-httpsdrpremcom-staging.kinsta.cloud\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stg-httpsdrpremcom-staging.kinsta.cloud\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stg-httpsdrpremcom-staging.kinsta.cloud\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}