Popping your knuckles...

[MzrtMusic]

I've always heard that if you pop your knuckles, when you get older, not only will they be lots bigger, but you are gaurenteed to have arthuritis. I was wondering two things... Is that really true? Will all of those terrible things happen to you? And secondly, anyone have and good ideas on how to stop? It's one of those things that I do without thinking when I'm waiting for a website to load, or waiting for traffic to move... It's a terrible habit :-/

Love,

Sarah

[OneHand10Fingers]

my grandfather is a doctor and i asked him about this, apparently it isnt bad unless you do it WAY too much.  he said something about it releasing nitrogen from your knuckles or something.  anyway the gist of it was that the arthritis story is just an old wives tale.  however if you squeeze really hard, or do it non stop all hours of the day, it cant be good for you, like any repetitive action.  

[ned]

Sarah:
Type in " knuckle cracking arthritis" in a search engine like Google and you will find some research. The short answer is No, as OneHand's grandfather says but you may want to see the reasons. Still it would be good to stop.
However, I think that playing a lot of basketball where your finger joints get whacked a lot is probably conducive to osteoarthritis over time. It's best to take care of your hands!
Ned

[MzrtMusic]

Thanks for your advice! It makes me feel better to know that my hands aren't going to shrivel up in the next year because of this problem!!! I've tried to quite before, but nothing ever worked... Does anyone have any ideas or stories about how they've quit?

Love,

Sarah

[sary2106]

I have no stories to tell about quitting popping my knuckles. Zilch. Nada. Ze-ro. It's a very hard habit to kick, huh? I think for me, it releases stress in my hands, and also in my mind. Like the other Sarah, I'm VERY glad to hear this news that cracking knuckles isn't so very serious.

I would hate to have hands that look like they should belong to a gargoyle!

Love,
Sarah

[willcowskitz]

Hey... We gargoyle-hands have feelings too, you know.  

I've never been into this much-talked bad habit of yours but my hands look three times older than my age. I have very strong and agile fingers, though. Was always the "finger pull" champion of our class.  

In some cases, "knuckle-popping" can be therapeuthic for the fingers. Did you know that milk in its current form is very harmful to the bones when consumed excessively? (and people do consume it excessively)

Life is dangerous, I'm almost positive it'll kill me sooner or later.

[sary2106]

Whoa!! Milk??? Shock!! I don't drink it that much, but do tell what you know about this.....

I always thought you would get osteoperosis or whatever that disease is.... if you DIDN'T drink milk..... my mum bugs me to drink it once in a while.

Cheers for water!

Love,
Sarah

[willcowskitz]

Its a little frightening that not many people know about this.  

No need to panic, though, just reconsider your diet.
And get enough vitamin D daily! (eggs, fish...)

https://www.4.waisays.com/

[koeni]

hi there
here's a way to get rid off it
its a method mostly used on young children to get them out off a bad habit
split up your day in short periods off wich you re shure you re able to contol them-lets say 15 min-
Then look at yourself and see for the places and times the popping strikes
then you make cards where you re supposed to wrtite crosses on each time you succeeded a 15 min unit without popping
when you succeed 5 on crosses succesively you reward yourself with-lets say - a coke
when you got 3 times 5 crosses ,reward yourself with something bigger-going to the movies?
be aware to plan this rewards before yo start the plan its a matter of motivation
hope this is clear

koeni

ps let me know about the results

[Helen]

I am so glad popping knuckles don't really have any long term effects because I do it all the time!  Whenever I'm nervous or something I pop my knuckles.  I've been worrying about it for quite some time but this is a great relief to see it doesn't have too much effect!

[amee]

I have the habit of popping my knuckles as well...I do it whenever I'm nervous.  I've been trying to stop but it's really hard!  

[BoliverAllmon]

I will never be able to stop popping the knuckles. The doctor's say that all the joints in my body are too big and spacious and therefore I am always dislocating things. It is no big deal, just that I have to pop it back in alot. I mean ALOT. Here is a list of things I have dislocated within the last 6 months.

fingers-too many times to count.

wrist-3 times or so.

jaw-twice

hip- 5-6 times.

ankle-several times.

shoulder-7-8 times

and my back needs readjusting daily.

So, if popping is bad for the joints, I am going to be in a wheel-chair in no time. Look out Grandpa hear i come. LOL!!!!!

BoliverAllmon