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in General Factchecking by Newbie (490 points)
Cracking your knuckles does not give you arthritis. The popping sound is connected to the formation and bursting of gas bubbles in your joint fluid. No studies have demonstrated an increased risk of arthritis, but frequent knuckle cracking may slightly reduce grip strength or irritate surrounding tissues​
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by Newbie (290 points)
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This is a very clear and straight foward answer that includes all components of a well rounded fact check. Great work!!
by Newbie (330 points)
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This fact check is effective in supplying an answer to whether or not the claim is true. However, the factchecker only looks into the resource mentioned within the initial claim and does not do any outresearch to support their fact-check. If they were to find another source or two to support their fact checking it would be much more effective.
by Novice (800 points)
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This fact-check does a great job of debunking the myth that cracking your fingers causes arthritis, backing it up with a credible medical source. It also points out other potential risks, like reduced grip strength and tissue irritation. While the source is solid and provides a thorough medical explanation, adding more references and direct quotes could make the argument even stronger. Bringing in multiple perspectives would add depth and further validate the claim. Overall, this is a well researched and well supported fact-check.
by Newbie (300 points)
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I completely agree with this statement. I went through your source which was very reliable and proved many facts and data that I saw through different sources as well. It can be concluded that the two are not connected.
by (100 points)
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While it may seem like cracking your knuckles is bas for them, based off of how it feels and sounds, there has actually been no evidence found that suggests that cracking your knuckles causes arthritis. There was actually a study done by a man who only cracked the knuckles on one of his hands for many years and found that there was no difference between the two, which suggests that cracking your knuckles does in fact not cause arthritis.

113 Answers

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by Newbie (300 points)
According to an article by Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center, there is no evidence that links cracking knuckles and furthering or developing arthritis. By cracking your knuckles you are popping gas bubbles that have built up in the joint as a result of metabolic processes. There is nothing unhealthy or dangerous about this process it is simply just a sound.

Article: https://www.hopkinsarthritis.org/arthritis-news/knuckle-cracking-q-a-from/
False
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by Newbie (300 points)

This article is a Q&A on knuckle cracking and in it answers simply that knuckle cracking has no association with arthritis and there is no evidence of this people who crack their knuckles develop arthritis compared to others who do not crack their knuckles. An article on the National Library of Medicine backs up this. In a survey with multiple geriatric patients that had a history of knuckle cracking it said that there "failed to show a correlation between knuckle cracking and degenerative changes of the metacarpal phalangeal joints." In simple terms, there were no signs of deterioration from knuckle cracking that could have caused arthritis. 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1130029/

True
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by Newbie (310 points)
This is false. An article by Dimitrios Pappas, a Rheumatology Fellow at Johns Hopkins, explains that cracking your knuckles doesn’t actually cause arthritis. While it might slightly decrease grip strength, there’s no direct link to arthritis. The research from Harvard also backs this up, saying that while cracking knuckles may annoy people around you, it likely doesn’t increase your chances of developing arthritis.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/pain/does-knuckle-cracking-cause-arthritis

https://www.hopkinsarthritis.org/arthritis-news/knuckle-cracking-q-a-from/
False
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by Newbie (300 points)
This is not true as finger cracking does not cause arthritis; this is according to various studies cited by John Hopkins Arthritis Center, which claim that knuckle cracking does not relate directly to the development of arthritis. During the process, neither the bones nor the cartilage is affected, and the noise produced occurs due to collapsing gas bubbles in the joint fluid. The major factors causing arthritis are age, genetics, and joint wear and tear resulting from disease or injury.

Source:

https://www.hopkinsarthritis.org/arthritis-news/knuckle-cracking-q-a-from/
False
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by Newbie (300 points)
No, cracking your knuckles cannot cause arthritis. I fact checked this by looking at an article posted by Northwestern Medicine, which is a hospital in Chicago. The article explains that the "popping noise" is merely the sound of gas bubbles being released when the bones are pulled apart, and has no long term negative effects on one's health. This is also backed up by an article written by UAMS Health.

Sources:

https://www.nm.org/healthbeat/healthy-tips/can-you-get-arthritis-from-cracking-your-knuckles#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20truth%20is%20there%20is,cracking%20your%20knuckles%20and%20arthritis.

https://uamshealth.com/medical-myths/will-cracking-your-knuckles-cause-arthritis/
False
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by Newbie (300 points)
The response given is true--cracking your knuckles does not give you arthritis. Citing a definite source (John Hopkins Arthritis Center) is compelling evidence, and it's backed up by multiple other authoritative groups in the health environment such as UAMS Health and the National Library of Medicine. While cracking your knuckles can cause irritation in the surrounding tissue and weaker grip strength over time, there is no link between knuckle cracking and arthritis.  

https://uamshealth.com/medical-myths/will-cracking-your-knuckles-cause-arthritis/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1004074/
True
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by Newbie (300 points)

The commonly held belief that cracking one’s fingers causes arthritis is an excellent example of disinformation-turned-misinformation in society. As displayed in a number of studies, the assertion that this practice causes arthritis is largely anecdotal (individuals often assume that because the two exist in tandem that one must cause the other) and has no scientific basis. Though temporary joint soreness and issues with grip strength are common with persistent knuckle cracking, the process of bending the fingers allows for the movement and collapse of gas bubbles that exist in the synovial fluid of the joints. This process has nothing to with arthritis. Though the explanation is entirely accurate, it contradicts the claim; an excellent hook, but also the reason I found the post to be somewhat misleading.

https://www.nm.org/healthbeat/healthy-tips/can-you-get-arthritis-from-cracking-your-knuckles#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20truth%20is%20there%20is,cracking%20your%20knuckles%20and%20arthritis.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/knuckle-cracking-annoying-and-harmful-or-just-annoying-2018051413797

https://www.hopkinsarthritis.org/arthritis-news/knuckle-cracking-q-a-from/

Exaggerated/ Misleading
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by Newbie (270 points)
There has been lots of research and studies that have gone into this debate. And thus far there is yet to be any evidence backing up this claim that "cracking your knuckles will eventually lead to arthritis." Many reliable sources will say the same thing.

For example "There is no evidence that knuckle cracking causes arthritis" and "doesn't signal any type of health problem" are both direct quotes from these reliable sources below:

https://uamshealth.com/medical-myths/will-cracking-your-knuckles-cause-arthritis/

https://www.nm.org/healthbeat/healthy-tips/can-you-get-arthritis-from-cracking-your-knuckles#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20truth%20is%20there%20is,cracking%20your%20knuckles%20and%20arthritis.

There is also the famous study done by Donald Unger who cracked just his left hand for about 6 decades straight and later both himself and researchers could not see any difference in his left and right hand.

According to that first article linked above by UAMS Health the most that can happen is a little temporary soreness in your joint if you cracked that joint too repeatedly.

Other than that there has been no reliable scientific evidence of cracking your knuckles being a health concern.
False
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by Newbie (300 points)

This statement is false according to UAMS health there’s no scientific evidence or reason to support that popping your knuckles will cause you to have arthritis. Really what the sound is a gas bubble in your knuckle that pops when it’s breaking due to the popping of the knuckle. 

https://uamshealth.com/medical-myths/will-cracking-your-knuckles-cause-arthritis/

False
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by Newbie (320 points)

The linked article claiming that cracking your knuckles does in fact not give arthritis is true. The article refutes the arthritis claim by telling the reality of knuckle cracking side effects, which is that there are none. All that it is is a bubble of fluid bursting in your fingers, which seems bad but has been proven to regenerate without such side effects. The reason why I trust this article is because it comes from the John Hopkins Arthritis Center, an organization dedicated to finding and providing evidence for all related to this condition.

https://www.hopkinsarthritis.org/arthritis-news/knuckle-cracking-q-a-from/

True

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