Tags: Expert Advice. Bone and Joint Health. Popular Categories. Popular Topics. Women's Health. Expert Advice. Patient Stories. Make an Appointment. Schedule a Callback. Despite how common it is, there has been considerable debate regarding where the noise comes from.
Fortunately — at least for those of us who are curious about it — knuckle cracking has been the subject of a fair amount of research. One of the most convincing bits of evidence suggesting that knuckle cracking is harmless comes from a California physician who reported on an experiment he conducted on himself.
Over his lifetime, he regularly cracked the knuckles of only one hand. He checked x-rays on himself after decades of this behavior and found no difference in arthritis between his hands. A larger study came to a similar conclusion. For example, joint dislocations and tendon injuries have been described after attempts to crack knuckles. One study published in found that among 74 people who regularly cracked their knuckles, their average grip strength was lower and there were more instances of hand swelling than among people who did not crack their knuckles.
However, the incidence of arthritis was the same in both groups. And another study created a mathematical model of a knuckle that helped confirm that the noise comes from collapsing gas bubbles. The origin of most joint noises, such as popping sounds or cracking of the knees when squatting, is uncertain.
They may come from the kneecap rubbing on the bones below, or a tendon sliding across an irregular surface. However, in the absence of pain, swelling, or other joint symptoms, these sounds are probably nothing to be concerned about, and there is no reliable way to silence them. As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content.
Please note the date of last review or update on all articles. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
There are several publications in pub Med that point to this. I can only imagine that the strength reduction is modest at best. Arthritis causes knuckle cracking, not the other way around. There is no medical evidence that knuckle cracking causes arthritis; not one study.
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Why do people do it? What causes the pop?
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