Can (violently) twisting, turning, pulling and cracking my fingers be harmful?

[sv3nno]

I've posted a similiar question here quite a long time ago. But apparently, i did not describe my finger cracking habits too.. umm... percisely.
for a long time, i've had a very bad habit of cracking many of my bones (neck, spine, nose, wrists, elbows, shoulders, knees, toes and especially fingers.) and i can't get rid of it.
but since i'm an advanced piano student, i'm especially worried for my fingers and i think my habits are doing harm to them and my playing. (i don't exactly if that could be the cause that my fingers are not as mobile as they should, that's why i came here to ask you guys.)
to get rid of that slightly uncomfortable feeling in my fingers and knuckles, i first crack them all and then i do horrendous things with them. sometimes i feel the need to forcefully twist the whole finger upwards and hold it there for a few seconds, then twist them sideways from the middle joint while... ok, you get the point.
i DON'T know why i keep doing this. do you think i should stop, could it harm my playing?
thanks in advance.

[hfmadopter]

We each get one set of body parts to live our entire lives with. I notice that in your signature you favor taking care of the earth. Noble thought, maybe think the same way towards your body and the problem will solve itself. We are funny creatures, we can think of all sorts of things to fix or to heal external faults that may surround us but it's tough to look inside ourselves to fix or heal a lousy habit ! And really that's all it is , a lousy habit. So just knock it off is my suggestion.

[iansinclair]

Uh... yeah.  You don't mention your age in your profile, but I'm assuming that you are relatively young -- say less than 40.  Your habit with your fingers won't, in that case, have had time to show up as noticeable (to you) damage, but... in time.  The joints of the fingers themselves -- beyond the one at the base of the finger -- are intended to flex in one plane only; the one at the base can also go left and right.  None of them are intended to rotate, or be stressed by trying to rotate.  Eventually this will damage the moving surfaces to the point where they don't want to move any more; it's a form of arthritis.

So you definitely shouldn't do it.

That said, stopping is not going to be easy; this kind of nervous habit -- for that is what it is -- is very very hard to control, never mind eliminate.  Good luck!

[brogers70]

Violently twisting, turning, pulling and cracking your fingers!!??!! That sounds like something the Inquisition would do to get people to confess to heresy. It can't be good for you.

[4greatkeyboards]

Want to be a pianist? Then strengthen rather than subvert your fingers. Robert Schuman, remember him?, ended his performance career by using stretching machines on his hands and physically cutting his tendons in an attempt to get more flexibility.

Best modern way to strengthen fingers, and whole body, is to work out on full-body elliptical trainer machines. These require you to pull and push on upright rods with your  arms while you tread and climb on foot pedals.