Popping ones knuckles, is it harmful?

[Peanut]

I once cracked my neck wrong and was left paralyzed from the neck down. Fortunately, I was able to recieve a powerful cybernetic body that can fly by shooting great gouts of flame from its backside.

It burns.

I used to be a chronic neck cracker untill I read this post...now I'm a neck breaker.

[Lady Kenshin]

Um, there is a secret doctor cabal. I know because they once turned me into a newt.


I got better.

Lol...

I do this all the time. The pain feels good.

[Tsukuyomi]

Some comments in thsi thread cracked me up (get it) XDD

My parents have me step on their backs XDD

[Robin Firedrake]

People find cracking necks freaky? Hmm... *Cracks neck* never heard of that before. Then again I don't think it's weird that I can bend my fingers back far enough to touch the back of my hand without any pain either.

[goldenspines]

If you read Paul's last comment in his list, it would seem to me that he's implying that since shooraijin is a doctor, his post cannot be trusted because he wants you to crack your knuckles more so that he can charge you exorbitant amounts of money for later medical problems.

Although shoo doesn't even live in the same state as you, let alone on the other side of the country, and I'm sure there isn't some secret doctor cabal where they split their earnings, so WHY he would have a vested interest in you ruining your knuckles is anyone's guess.

Anyway, I'd take the word of the licensed medical professional over the random guy on the internet. Just my two cents.

You mean Shooby doesn't own a private island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean where he was going to take all of us on vacation?

Well, drat.

[Shiningmonk_e]

What about your big toe? Because I can crack my repeatedly and it just doesn't stop. Sometimes it just repeatedly pops when I walk barefoot.

I can crack my knuckle and the knuckle below them. Also, my neck, back, etc...

[Roy Mustang]

Shooby is right and after all, he is a licensed medical professional or he just stayed at Holiday Inn Express once.

Joint "cracking" can result from a negative pressure pulling nitrogen gas temporarily into the joint, such as when knuckles are "cracked." This is not harmful. "Cracking" sounds can also be heard if tendons snap over tissues because of minor adjustments in their gliding paths. This can occur with aging as muscle mass and action change.

Off topic,

One time I pop my knuckles and all of my knuckles pop at once. It as so cool and sounded like firecrackers going off.



[font="Book Antiqua"]
[color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang
[/color][/font]

[Kaligraphic]

Um, there is a secret doctor cabal. I know because they once turned me into a newt.


I got better.

Lol...

I do this all the time. The pain feels good.

You turn me into a newt? What?

[ChristianKitsune]

Shooby is right and after all, he is a licensed medical professional or he just stayed at Holiday Inn Express once.

Joint "cracking" can result from a negative pressure pulling nitrogen gas temporarily into the joint, such as when knuckles are "cracked." This is not harmful. "Cracking" sounds can also be heard if tendons snap over tissues because of minor adjustments in their gliding paths. This can occur with aging as muscle mass and action change.

Off topic,

One time I pop my knuckles and all of my knuckles pop at once. It as so cool and sounded like firecrackers going off.

[font="Book Antiqua"]
[color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang
[/color][/font]

LOL! Roy, that was funny (the holiday inn part XD)

[shooraijin]

Actually, I have an MD and I really *did* spend a night at a Holiday Inn Express. That makes me SUPER SMART.

[Roy Mustang]

Actually, I have an MD and I really *did* spend a night at a Holiday Inn Express. That makes me SUPER SMART.

And now we know the rest of the story. XD

[font="Book Antiqua"]
[color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang[/color][/font]

[ADXC]

Actually, I have an MD and I really *did* spend a night at a Holiday Inn Express. That makes me SUPER SMART.

So does this mean you can cure computer viruses too?

[Lady Kenshin]

You turn me into a newt? What?

Yes, often.

[Robin Firedrake]

Turn me into a dragon then.

[ADXC]

@ Robin Firedrake-But I thought you were already a dragon.

[Radical Dreamer]

Just a note: This thread IS in General, so let's try to keep it on topic, okay?

[That Dude]

Finger, toe, joint popping, Ok. Back and neck popping, not so ok...Not super dangerous or anything but you can cause a sublaxtion (sp?) in your spinal column which will affect your health a lot. At least that's what good chiropractors say. And so does Mr T.

[Bobtheduck]

Finger, toe, joint popping, Ok. Back and neck popping, not so ok...Not super dangerous or anything but you can cause a sublaxtion (sp?) in your spinal column which will affect your health a lot. At least that's what good chiropractors say. And so does Mr T.

It's advice for his mother. He treats her right.

[Paul]

Well, I guess for the time being, we'll just have to go with Shooraijin and his advice. If the gentleman holds a degree in the medical profession, then it is him that you all should listen to. As for myself, I tend to listen to the first hand experience of old ladies and men in the nursing homes I have fed because their fingers were so swollen they couldn't move them. Cracking knuckles because you curl your hand and taking your thumb and pushing down till they pop are two different things. In short it's called dislocating your joints.

In all due respect to Shooraijin, I too have been through medical training, and worked 4 years as an Emergency Medical Technician in the nursing homes, and in the field. I have had it hammered into my head by instructors, ER doctors, ER nurses, Paramedics (which my brother is one), Forestry Fire Captains, and the field medical training books that things like dislocated shoulders, slipped disks, compression injuries to the spinal cord, hyperextended knuckles, AKA popping your knuckles, repeated sprained ankles, broken bones, not to mention the proof in the pudding by those who live with the results, and anything else which causes repetative painful moments to the body can and often leads to arthritis.

I have proof, I've been told by my orthopedic doctor that it's not so that you can predict the weather or have pain in your limbs, with a rod in your leg. But he remains baffled at the fact I do everytime the weather changes. Want proof, volunteer to feed the elderly in a nursing home for a month. Or to read them a book, or help with an activity. That's proof in it's self. Or just go find some elderly person, who struggle with their limbs because of old injuries.

I just happen to find this document on the net a few minutes ago from the annals of Rheumatic Diseases:

http://osteoarthritis.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=osteoarthritis&cdn=health&tm=109&gps=222_856_1260_613&f=10&tt=12&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi%3Fartid%3D1004074

Though this study is of only a mear 300 people, it holds to the idea that no, it does not cause arthritis, but it goes on and also talks about what I said earlier, which is the eventual loss of use of limb and that it does cause damage. Now, when you do something to your body and it hurts, that's your body trying to tell you to stop it, this will hurt us. Pain is like the oil light on the car. When it comes on, you need change the oil or put more in the car. Because if you don't, your engine will quit running. The only difference between the engine in the car and your body is the engine can be replaced. You cannot.

No disrespect to Shooriajin.

Paul

[Nate]

I tend to listen to the first hand experience of old ladies and men in the nursing homes I have fed because their fingers were so swollen they couldn't move them.

First hand experience is not valid evidence, sorry. There's a reason we don't just say "Well, a bunch of people say this, so that makes it true." There are thousands of people who swear up and down that tapping the lid of a soda can that's been shaken will make it not fizz up. This has been proven to be absolutely 100% false by experimentation, but people will STILL say it works.

This is much the same. I don't doubt the people in nursing homes have swollen fingers. I don't doubt that maybe they cracked their knuckles a lot. However, that doesn't mean that cracking their knuckles caused swollen fingers.

In many scientific fields, there is a statement that is repeated over and over. Namely, "Correlation does not imply causation." In other words, just because A happens, then B happens, does not mean A caused B. Even if every single person in the nursing home cracked their knuckles, and all had swollen fingers, that does not mean that cracking their knuckles caused swollen fingers.

You might say "But if everyone who did it had the same problem, doesn't that prove it?" Well, no. For a good example, here's this:

A. A rooster crows.
B. The sun rises.

Did the rooster crowing cause the sun to rise? No, that's absurd. But every day the rooster crows, and the sun rises. If the rooster didn't crow, the sun would still rise.

The study you quoted. The study is, of course, a correlational study. Causational studies cannot be done on this sort of thing for ethics reasons. It is unethical (and probably illegal) to perform studies that would theoretically cause harm to the participants. In this case, they said that those who cracked their knuckles frequently showed signs of hand swelling. That's nice, but here's the question: are those who crack knuckles more likely to have swollen hands, or are people who are already going to get swollen hands more likely to crack their knuckles for whatever reason?

See what I mean? It's also likely these people would have gotten swollen hands anyway, and that the knuckle cracking is merely a symptom.

Anyway that's about all I have to say on the subject. *shrug* I am not a doctor, and shooraijin is. So listen to him, not me. XD

[goldenspines]

No disrespect to Shooriajin.

Except saying that he's wrong, when he has probably had much more medical schooling than four years (almost double that, actually, if I remember correctly) and has worked (and is still working) as a medical professional longer than that.

I have no doubt in your abilities, EMTs are great people to have around (I know a few of them), but trained and certified doctors know tons more (as they should, since they've had more years of schooling).

I echo Nate is his sciencentific thinking, because he has a point concerning your post.

[Radical Dreamer]

First hand experience is not valid evidence, sorry. There's a reason we don't just say "Well, a bunch of people say this, so that makes it true." There are thousands of people who swear up and down that tapping the lid of a soda can that's been shaken will make it not fizz up. This has been proven to be absolutely 100% false by experimentation, but people will STILL say it works.

This is much the same. I don't doubt the people in nursing homes have swollen fingers. I don't doubt that maybe they cracked their knuckles a lot. However, that doesn't mean that cracking their knuckles caused swollen fingers.

In many scientific fields, there is a statement that is repeated over and over. Namely, "Correlation does not imply causation." In other words, just because A happens, then B happens, does not mean A caused B. Even if every single person in the nursing home cracked their knuckles, and all had swollen fingers, that does not mean that cracking their knuckles caused swollen fingers.

You might say "But if everyone who did it had the same problem, doesn't that prove it?" Well, no. For a good example, here's this:

A. A rooster crows.
B. The sun rises.

Did the rooster crowing cause the sun to rise? No, that's absurd. But every day the rooster crows, and the sun rises. If the rooster didn't crow, the sun would still rise.

The study you quoted. The study is, of course, a correlational study. Causational studies cannot be done on this sort of thing for ethics reasons. It is unethical (and probably illegal) to perform studies that would theoretically cause harm to the participants. In this case, they said that those who cracked their knuckles frequently showed signs of hand swelling. That's nice, but here's the question: are those who crack knuckles more likely to have swollen hands, or are people who are already going to get swollen hands more likely to crack their knuckles for whatever reason?

See what I mean? It's also likely these people would have gotten swollen hands anyway, and that the knuckle cracking is merely a symptom.

Anyway that's about all I have to say on the subject. *shrug* I am not a doctor, and shooraijin is. So listen to him, not me. XD

Nate basically said everything here that I would've said myself. It's simple logic. As for me, I'd be quicker to trust the opinion of a licensed professional (and not just Shoo--I've had other doctors tell me that popping one's knuckles does not cause arthritis) over someone who only speaks from vague experience.

[Paul]

Humbly I concede to the majority and move on.

Gracefully, Paul

[mysngoeshere56]

I always wondered if cracking your knuckles or anything else could lead to something like that.... it never sounded healthy anyway. Then again, I'll admit that I'm a bit on the health-paranoid side.

[That Dude]

Cracking knuckles causes debate.

[danceljoy]

From my experience I think cracking knuckles when you're still a kid will make joints bigger. It happened to me for since it was my habit since I was 8.

And I also crack my big toe repeatedly, up to 50 times in a row but I only do that once in a while of course, to show off.

[minakichan]

I lost a debate round because I was cracking my knuckles and it **** the judge off.

So yes, it can be harmful =_=;

[shooraijin]

From my experience I think cracking knuckles when you're still a kid will make joints bigger. It happened to me for since it was my habit since I was 8.

And I also crack my big toe repeatedly, up to 50 times in a row but I only do that once in a while of course, to show off.

Testing something like that is kind of confounded by the fact that you yourself are also growing in general

Temporarily it may appear to make the joints "bigger" but this is probably due to swelling of the tendon sheaths, not necessarily the joint capsule contents. The simplest way to find out would be to crack your knuckles and then immediately do an MRI, and maybe someone out there is interested in doing this for a thesis.

[EricTheFred]

I lost a debate round because I was cracking my knuckles and it **** the judge off.

So yes, it can be harmful =_=]

A long time back, I judged speech and drama events. I had to comment on distracting habits more than once. (Popping knuckles, hair strokes, hair twirling, the head jerk to get the hair out of the eyes, etc.) They detract from your ability to convince by steering the audience's mind away from your words. It might seem unfair, but judging is ultimately about improving the skills that contestants may later use as speakers, lawyers or performers.

Did the rooster crowing cause the sun to rise? No, that's absurd. But every day the rooster crows, and the sun rises. If the rooster didn't crow, the sun would still rise.

Another cherished childhood illusion shattered.

[MangArtist]

I used to twist my fingers to pop them, but it started messing them up. Now I bend them back. I also pop all of my toes.
Isn't popping your back usually a good thing? O_o