Cracking joints is relaxing for some – and extremely uncomfortable for others. You can find out here whether it is unhealthy and what causes the crackling noise.
Many people like to crack their joints – especially in the fingers: by pulling on the fingers or stretching the joints, it cracks. Exactly what causes the noise and to what extent the cracking is unhealthy has been controversial for a long time. We will inform you about the current state of research.
Cracking joints is probably not unhealthy
(Photo: CC0 / Pixabay / congerdesign)
The joints could wear out or even rheumatism and arthritis develop, you hear again and again. But is it really that bad to let the joints crack?
So far, science has not yet agreed on what exactly happens when the joints are cracked. However, there is largely consensus that it is not unhealthy. Among others, the mirror and the Pharmacy magazinewho rely on the medical doctor Donald L. Unger:
- The specialist for allergies examined the cracking of the fingers in one Self-experiment over a period of 50 years. In doing so, he cracked the fingers of his left hand at least twice every day while he left the fingers of his right hand alone.
- After 50 years, he had both hands X-rayed. The result: The joints of both hands were completely healthy. There was no evidence of arthritis or osteoarthritis.
- He published his results in 2004 in the specialist magazine “Arthritis & rheumatism“.
A more recent one study from 2011 with 215 subjects covered the result: According to this, regular finger cracking does not increase the risk of osteoarthritis. This would not wear out the joints.
One came to a somewhat different result 1990 study: Of the 300 subjects, 74 regularly cracked their fingers. Their hands tended to be slightly swollen and had a weaker grip. However, the researchers also found that the fingercrackers tended to smoke more, drink alcohol, and do physical work. To what extent this influenced the results has not been clarified. Nevertheless, the scientists finally recommended not to crack the joints regularly, as this could restrict the functionality of the hands.
Summary: Cracking joints will most likely not result in arthritis, osteoarthritis, rheumatism, or other major complaints. However, the fact that it has no unhealthy effects on the joints and fingers cannot currently be ruled out entirely.
What happens when the joints crack?
(Photo: CC0 / Pixabay / falco)
It is not only the health effects of finger clicking that have not yet been fully researched. Even today, science is not completely in agreement as to what exactly happens and how it clicks. But there is a plausible theory that is covered by several research groups:
- If we pull on the bones and crack the joints, the gap between the joints increases. A bubble suddenly forms in this enlarged gap and it cracks. If we let go of the joint, the bladder will recede without noise.
- A research team led by Gregory Kawchuck reported about this observation in 2015 in the journal “Plos One“. Using MRI, they examined what exactly happens in the joint when it cracks.
- Exactly how the blistering occurs, explains the orthopedist Dr. Christian Massing of the pharmacy survey: According to this, the joints are in a liquid in which CO2 occurs in dissolved form. If we let the joints crack, the CO2 turns into gas and forms bubbles that slide into the enlarged gap.
- However, Dr. Massing that the cracking noise occurs when the bubbles burst. Kawchuck, on the other hand, emphasizes that the noise is created when the bubbles are formed – and the bubble eventually regressed without noise.
So far it is not entirely clear what exactly happens when the joints crack and how the noise occurs. However, we know that gas bubbles in the enlarged joints are responsible for the cracking.
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