By cracking your fingers you start to develop Arthritis

Question

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​

Comments

The belief that cracking your knuckles leads to arthritis is a pretty common myth. According to the Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center, there is no evidence that knuckle cracking causes arthritis or other joint damage. Similarly, the Department of Orthopedics at UAMS Health states that while knuckle cracking may cause temporary joint soreness, it does not and will not lead to arthritis. Therefore, cracking your knuckles does not cause arthritis.

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The belief that cracking your knuckles leads to arthritis is a pretty common myth. According to the Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center, there is no evidence that knuckle cracking causes arthritis or other joint damage. Similarly, the Department of Orthopedics at UAMS Health states that while knuckle cracking may cause temporary joint soreness, it does not and will not lead to arthritis. Therefore, cracking your knuckles does not cause arthritis.

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

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

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After reading this fact and learning about it in the link included, I learned that arthritis doesn't come from cracking your knuckles. But it can cause injury. I saw that your headline was a false headline but your evidence to go with it was all true.

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Initially, it's important to note that this article and its claim is relying on a well-known and credible source, which allows us to view this claim through a different lense. This article claims the myth that cracking your knuckles leads to arthritis is just that; a myth. According to Eric M. Ruderman, (a rheumatologist at Northwestern Medicine), there is truly no connection between cracking knuckles and arthritis because it is just the expulsion of gas bubbles.

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While the concern that cracking your knuckles can lead to long lasting effects such as arthritis is valid, there has been no known correlation between cracking your knuckles and arthritis.

"The relation of habitual knuckle cracking to osteoarthrosis with functional impairment of the hand has long been considered an old wives' tale without experimental support. The mechanical sequelae of knuckle cracking have been shown to produce the rapid release of energy in the form of sudden vibratory energy, much like the forces responsible for the destruction of hydraulic blades and ship propellers.

There was no increased preponderance of arthritis of the hand in either group; however, habitual knuckle crackers were more likely to have hand swelling and lower grip strength. Habitual knuckle cracking was associated with manual labour, biting of the nails, smoking, and drinking alcohol. It is concluded that habitual knuckle cracking results in functional hand impairment."

This quote taken from a study by the National Library of Medicine explains what the popping sound in knuckle is caused by, and how knuckle cracking does not cause arthritis, although it can increase chances in developing functional hand impairment.

"Repetitive and intentional joint cracking won't cause cartilage damage or arthritis, but it may lead to other serious issues like instability within the joint and a loss of grip strength or hand function."

This excerpt from CentraCare also explores the possibility of repeated knuckle cracking leading to lower and function.

In short, cracking your knuckles will not lead to arthritis, but can lead to a loss in hand function .

https://www.centracare.com/articles-stories/cracking-knuckles-cause-arthritis
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1004074/

Answer 1

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/

Answer 2

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/

Answer 3

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/

Answer 4

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/

Answer 5

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/

Answer 6

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/

Answer 7

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/

Answer 8

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.

Answer 9

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/

Answer 10

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/