I've heard that myth all my life.....but, there may be some validity to it. If you are putting constant wear on your joints by cracking them, it could cause maybe osteoarthritis? I'm just throwing that one on the table, so to say....but I don't know that for sure. It could be that it's already in your system to develop it, and it's a coincidence? Could it be that you are having a repetative strain injury?
You may want to ask yourself why you are cracking your knuckles all the time? Are you doing it to relieve stress (mentally) or are you doing it out of habit? Are you doing it because there's pressure and pain in that area?
I crack my knuckles on occasion when stressed, but when I was younger I did it all the time. I also have repetative strain injury and I do get relief from cracking (pulling) the offending fingers or thumbs.
REally? I don't think it can cause arthritis....but, it would be good to know what others think.
quincy
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It's all a matter of perspective!
This is a REALLY good question. I myself have thought about posting the same question but just never got around to it.
Anyways, I crack quite a few bones in my body, my back, my knuckles, ankles, and toes. (Ok..the toes thing might seem a little weird to you lol) To me, the cracking feels good. Like, I released some kind of pressure? I have always wondered if I was doing harm to my bones.
This is a REALLY good question. I myself have thought about posting the same question but just never got around to it.
Anyways, I crack quite a few bones in my body, my back, my knuckles, ankles, and toes. (Ok..the toes thing might seem a little weird to you lol) To me, the cracking feels good. Like, I released some kind of pressure? I have always wondered if I was doing harm to my bones.
I also crack all the bones that you listed, and my neck. I also crack my toes!! My two big toes crack constantly. Like other bones, once you crack them you have to wait a while before you can crack them again.. not my toes.. they crack continuously lol..
__________________ Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.
I've been popping my knuckles since I was a kid. I'm 34 now and I have no pain in my joints from such activity. My dad, on the other hand, who is nearing 65, always got on to me about always popping my fingers. He has arthritis. May be no relation at all, but so far I've held up well.
As for popping things, well, it seems that if it's never been popped, it's kind of hard to get it to pop. I used to crack my neck a lot when I was a kid, then I just kind of forgot about it. Now I can't get it to crack much at all. I nearly twist my own head off trying, but I just can't get it to happen. Same with my lower back.
But I pop my knees, elbows, all joints in my fingers. I can even pop all the joints in my toes, including the little tiny ones at the ends. My favorite thing to pop, however, is my hips. I can't just do it at will, but when I'm sitting in a chair and I move my leg in a certain way, I can feel the potential, and I just kind of push out with my hand and there's this loud, and kind of deep "THUMP" and a burst of ecstasy.
My other favorite thing to pop is my upper back. When I was a kid, I had a hard time popping my upper back, but somehow I kind of discovered a way to do it and now it's so easy I can just contract the right muscles while I'm standing anywhere and I can feel about every vertabrae (te?) in my back pop. Then I curve my spine to my left and hear more cracks. This brings me such great pleasure that if I couldn't crack my joints, I'd probably be on depression medication. LOL
OH, another thing I've managed to pop is my nose, and something mentioned often in the boards used for men's sexual health, but I don't know if I'm allowed to use that term here, so use your imaginations.
Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.
