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

Hello I was looking at your piece and I came to find that while your article or piece is backed by your research. I to was able to find that not all legitimate or creditable sources would agree with it. One in particular would be the Northwestern University institution where they state that cracking you fingers doesn't always lead to arthritis. I used the main SIFT method and was able to just plug and play it into a search and found that some of the pieces are actually correct and not.
https://www.nm.org › HealthBeat › Healthy Tips

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I enjoy how helpful and mature your constructive criticism is and how you provided evidence they can use to further back their claim

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This fact check is well-executed. I appreciate that you used reliable claims and supported them with information from the article. Additionally, the use of a credible source further strengthens your argument.

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I have heard of this notion before, and as someone who cracks their knuckles daily, I don't believe this to be true. The source linked below is from the renowned university Johns Hopkins, which I immediately knew was a reliable source. A quick Google search led me to many different sources, including Northwestern Medicine, the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences, and the article linked above from Johns Hopkins, which all debunk this claim. The Johns Hopkins article reads, "There is no evidence of such an association. In limited studies performed there was no change in occurrence of arthritis between “habitual knuckle crackers” and “non crackers”. Based on my research I have not found any information that supports the claim that cracking your knuckles causes arthiritis.

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

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

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

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I have heard this before and wondered about it myself. I crack my knuckles every day and have worried about it but never experienced any signs of arthritis. I checked a few different websites and all of them have proved this claim wrong. On the National Library of Medicine website. They did a study on people who crack their knuckles vs not and found, "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." It is a government website and is very reliable. I also found other websites that claim the same thing such as Johns Hopkins Medical and Northwestern Medicine. All of the reliable websites agree that cracking knuckles does not cause arthritis and all of the websites have evidence from doctors.


https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1004074/

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

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

Answer 1

After looking into this claim, it’s clear that the idea that cracking your knuckles causes arthritis is a myth. Research has consistently shown no connection between knuckle cracking and the development of arthritis. The popping sound you hear is caused by the collapse of gas bubbles in the synovial fluid, not damage to the joints.

Credible sources like Harvard Health and the Mayo Clinic confirm this. However, excessive or aggressive knuckle cracking could lead to minor issues, such as ligament irritation or reduced grip strength over time, as noted by the Cleveland Clinic. So while cracking your knuckles won’t give you arthritis, it’s a habit that might have some downsides if overdone.

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

https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-minute-a-hand-surgeons-advice-about-knuckle-cracking/

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/is-cracking-your-knuckles-bad-for-you

Comments

I have heard that cracking your knuckles won't cause arthritis, but I didn't know of the real possible downsides that are overshadowed by this. You did a great job of referencing credible sources and I was able to follow your argument well. It flowed smoothly and was informative on the topic!

Answer 2

Hello I was looking at the article and how it states that "Cracking your knuckles can cause Arthritis" but I've come to the conclusion that the article or piece isn't backed by 100% factual research. This claim is backed by research, including a study from Northwestern University Institution. According to their findings, "Cracking your knuckles may aggravate the people around you, but it probably won't raise your risk for arthritis." This conclusion is supported by several studies that compared the rates of hand arthritis in habitual knuckle-crackers versus non-crackers. Additionally, a related article from Johns Hopkins also reinforces this perspective.I was actually able to find that not all legitimate or creditable sources would agree with it. One in particular would be the Northwestern University institution where they state that cracking you fingers doesn't always lead to arthritis and that it can be seen as myth. I used the main SIFT method to help me and was able to extract information and found that the John Hopkins article is actually legit in some ways.

https://www.nm.org › HealthBeat › Healthy Tips

Answer 3

Cracking your knuckles does not cause arthritis.Harvard Health and National Library of Medicine haven’t found any inks between the habit and the development of arthritis. The popping sound is caused by bubbles bursting in the synovial fluid of the joint. HARVARD HEALTH However, habitual knuckle cracking may lead to temporary hand swelling and reduced grip strength.

Answer 4

Whereas it is true that knuckle cracking does not lead to arthritis, it is questionable that Johns Hopkins mentioned a reduce grip strength caused by knuckle cracking. The Houston Methodist reiterates that there is no study showing any long term damage occurring because of knuckle cracking.

https://www.houstonmethodist.org/blog/articles/2020/jun/does-cracking-your-knuckles-cause-arthritis/

Answer 5

This claim is true, knuckle cracking does not have a direct causation of arthritis. I used the SIFT method to fact check this claim. I found a different claim that also investigates the same question. Affects of Habitual Knuckle Cracking On Hand Function is a scientific study on what actually happens when you crack your knuckles. When talking about the findings it states "There was no increased preponderance of arthritis of the hand in either group" This means that the findings in this study and yours are very similar. Although knuckle cracking does not cause arthritis it does cause swelling of the hands. This study was conducted by researchers from department of internal medicine, which from my evaluation seems very trust worthy.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1004074/ 

Answer 6

According to Piedmont Healthcare, studies have not found a definitive connection between cracking knuckles and arthritis or any medical-related issues. Some studies suggest knuckle cracking may lead to hand swelling at older ages, even though this is not a clear connection. Piedmont Healthcare's Dr. Behr claims it may be true that popping knuckles can give some physical relief through the release of nitrogen. However, this does not link cracking fingers to arthritis.

Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center states that there are two predominant kinds of arthritis: inflammatory, rheumatoid arthritis, and degenerative arthritis. The reasons for causation for both of these diseases are not definitive; however, a genetic condition has been confirmed as highly probable. People with arthritis that crack their knuckles will not make it worse but it may increase the likelihood of ligament injury. Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center deliberately states "There is no evidence that cracking knuckles causes any damage, such as arthritis in the joints".

Sources:

https://www.piedmont.org/living-real-change/myth-buster-is-knuckle-cracking-bad-for-you

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

Answer 7

This claim that says by cracking your fingers a person can start to develop Arthritis is completely false. Cracking your fingers is a habit that many people have started, this habit is usually harmless and does not cause Arthritis. Arthritis is pain in someones joints that causes inflammation. There are different types of Arthritis that attack the joints and because Arthritis does not only develop in your hands this claim is not true. There are many components that can cause Arthritis including factors like age, genetics, injuries, and obesity. There are also no studies to prove that cracking your fingers can lend Arthritis. Many people do believe that the sound of cracking your fingers is your joints moving but it actually is the releasing air bubbles from the synovial fluid that lubricates your joints( making them be able to move). Overall this claim is not proven and is completely false.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20120917-is-it-bad-to-crack-your-knuckles

https://www.tylenol.com/adult-relief/arthritis/arthritis-types?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=BI-USA-ENG-PS-Tylenol-Arthritis-CS-PH-RN-PR-N/A-Symptoms_Arthritis&utm_content=Arthritis|Symptoms|Hands&utm_term=signs%20of%20arthritis%20in%20fingers&&msclkid=88794bc029ea1cfb1db12c59346ccef3&gclid=88794bc029ea1cfb1db12c59346ccef3&gclsrc=3p.ds

https://www.healthline.com/health/cracking-knuckles

Answer 8

The Johns Hopkins article claims that cracking your fingers does not cause arthritis. While it may lead to reduced grip strength, arthritis is not a known effect of knuckle cracking. This claim from the article is supported by a UAMS Health article. UAMS states, "The Department of Orthopedics noted there is no evidence that knuckle cracking causes arthritis. However, repeatedly cracking your knuckles may cause temporary soreness of the joint." Several studies have compared rates of hand arthritis between habitual knuckle-crackers and those who do not crack their knuckles. According to the article by Dimitrios Pappas, a trusted Rheumatology Fellow at Johns Hopkins University, there is no conclusive evidence linking knuckle cracking to arthritis. After fact-checking, this article appears to be factual. While cracking your knuckles may not have significant health benefits, it does not directly cause arthritis.

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

Answer 9

The original claim of the subject is that "By cracking your fingers, you start to develop arthritis." However, in response to this, a fact check using a credible source, such as the Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center, explains that while cracking your knuckles chronically could cause a weaker grip strength or other minor issues like tissue irritation, it has no link to arthritis itself, this has also been backed up by sources I visited like health.harvard.edu as well as the mayo clinic which also supported this claim, these clearly show that knuckle popping causing arthritis is a common myth. Implying that this fact check is, in fact, true.