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When you crack your knuckles, your bones are rubbing together. That's what makes the cracking sound. It used to be beleived that cracking your knuckles caused arthridis, but that been prooved untrue.
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∙ 12y ago
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If you stop cracking your knuckles will they get smaller?
I believe the swelling casued by cracking knuckles is just a myth, I have been cracking them and know people who used to do it or still do it, they never noticed any swelling. Actually when you crack knuckles there is hydrogen and some other gas bubble like substance which actually burst and that is how you hear the crack, so I think that has nothing to with Swelling of fingers or toes
What will happen if you crack your knuckles too much?
Cracking your knuckles is just releasing the nitrogen in between your joints. Cracking your knuckles can cause you to crack them more often. Your knuckles may become larger from cracking them.
What happens when someone cracks their knuckles?
Gas is quickly released.
Does cracking knuckles make the knuckles bigger?
The following are some views from WikiAnswers contributors:It doesnt make them bigger, and it doesn't harm them, its just the air being removed from in between the joints. I don't know but I HAVE to crack my back and neck or I can't move sometimes. I did suffer a lower back injury in 1993 when I fell about 12 feet at work. I landed basically 'sitting down'. Anyway, I can crack my toes, ankles (on occasion) knees, knuckles, neck, back, right elbow, and sometimes even my sturnum. Weird I know, I have relieved headaches in both other people and myself by either cracking the neck or back... Thoughts?I have been cracking my knuckles for as long as i can remember I'm only 22 and yes it makes then bigger i can feel the joints in my fingers huge! i don't pull them i bend them into the palm of my hand and with my other hand crack the joint closet to my nail then proceed to crack the joint above that with the thumb for that hand. I've stopped cracking them for about 2 months now and i have serious pain, I've been told its the liquid between my joints coming back (in case you don't know the pop/crack you hear when you crack your knucles is a liquid/cusion between your joints/bones to move them efficently and comfortably) So when you crack/pop you are cracking that cusion so its bone rubbing against bone! and when that cusion starts to build back up you crack it again! Its hurts for me now not to crack because i keep stopping and like a nervous twitch I forget and crack them which relieves the pain! But the long term effect will happen to the point that you cant even crack them to relieve the pain that's arthitist people! Some people who read this might not understand because they haven't experienced this yet but trust me if you've started please stop and if your like me and been doing it forever do what i do, think about that liquid/cushion popping creating you bones to rub against each other even though i forget once in a while my fingers hurt way less now that I've stopped then when i first starting to end my finger cracker.I am 20 i have been cracking my knuckles since i was about 6 years old and i have never had a problem yet. so if you are a person that think cracking your knuckles causes you harm your wrong and i am living prof of that.Yes, it will make them bigger and it usually becomes like an OCD which means its an like addiction and hard to stop. At 20 the above poster is still young enough to not have any serious problems BUT later in life there is the possibility of things like arthritis. I've been doing it for about 6/7 years and at 29 my fingers are starting to hurt every time i do it, and hurt for a long time after i do it and hurt when i don't do it until i do it again to ease it - (creating a vicious circle). My fingers and joints feel swollen (but don't look it). Also I had no problems before i started doing it. So i have stopped. I advise you do NOT take it up, its like any other habit.I heard that cracking your knuckles doesn't really make them larger. Just an urban legend. Could be wrong though.I believe so. I had small knuckles, picked up cracking my knuckles, and they got big. I quit for about a month or two and they became small again. To test it further i cracked only one finger for a week and it got bigger. Also i have 5 friends in my group, one cracks there knuckles and there huge. The rest who do not have small. Some people may not suffer from it... but i believe cracking your knuckles does add to making your knuckles bigger. It depends on the person, but for the most case, yes.If you want to try and make your knuckles bigger try lightly hitting a solid surface like a wall, your bones will re-heal and case over, also it kills the nerves so you can hit harder without it hurting as much. But cracking them does not lead to bigger or stronger knuckles.I used to crack my knuckles and they used to be small and I cracked them for about 3 years and now they are big. i quit now and they don't get small agin! now that I stoped its like a craving and I gotta mingle with my fingers insted of cracking them. My suggestion is don't start and, if you have, stop.Yes, it does make them bigger and it can cause you to have arthritis when you are older so I would advise you to stop doing it because it is kind of addicting. My hands hurt all the time now due to cracking my knuckles. Now that I'm older it causes me to have severe pain in my hands and fingers!No, it doesn't. My mom is 53 and she has been cracking her knuckles since she was 7 and no problems.I say it does make your knuckles bigger. I'm only 13 and started cracking them when i was 9 and they are fat and don't fit into my mom moms wedding ring very well.Actually, it does not make them bigger. there's what I believe a wall of mucus or something between the knuckle and the finger. pull your finger as hard as you can to test it out. you can also see like a little hole between the knuckle and finger when you pull it. I punched walls and now my knuckles are bigger, I tested this with my right, now my right knuckles are bigger than my left knuckles. My right knuckles are also more harder.I don't think that popping your knuckles makes them any bigger I am 11 and i have been popping my knuckles since i was 7. When you pop your fingers a gas (nitrogen?) is released and that is what makes the popping sound. Yes, I do have slightly larger knuckles than my friends its not even noticeable though. I have always had slightly larger knuckles though. also you feel immediate relief and you feel more supple. I also pop my neck and back.
Is cracking your knuckles in your ankle harmful?
If you've ever laced your fingers together, turned your palms away from you and bent your fingers back, you know what knuckle popping sounds like. Joints produce that CRACK when bubbles burst in the fluid surrounding the joint. Joints are the meeting points of two separate bones, held together and in place by connective tissues and ligaments. Many of the joints in our bodies are surrounded by synovial fluid, a thick, clear liquid. When you stretch or bend your finger to pop the knuckle, you are causing the bones of the joint to pull apart. As they do, the connective tissue capsule that surrounds the joint is stretched. By stretching this capsule, you increase its volume. And as we know from chemistry class, with an increase in volume comes a decrease in pressure. So as the pressure of the synovial fluid drops, gases dissolved in the fluid become less soluble, forming bubbles through a process called cavitation. When the joint is stretched far enough, the pressure in the capsule drops so low that these bubbles burst, producing the pop that we associate with knuckle cracking. It takes about 25-30 minutes for the gas to redissolve into the joint fluid. During this period of time, your knuckles will not crack. Once the gas is redissolved, cavitation is once again possible, and you can start popping your knuckles again. As for the harms associated with this habit, according to Anatomy and Physiology Instructors' Cooperative, only one in-depth study regarding the possible detriments of knuckle popping has been published. This study, done by Raymond Brodeur and published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, examined 300 knuckle crackers for evidence of joint damage. The results revealed no apparent connection between joint cracking and arthritis; however, habitual knuckle poppers did show signs of other types of damage, including soft tissue damage to the joint capsule and a decrease in grip strength. This damage is most likely a result of the rapid, repeated stretching of the ligaments surrounding the joint. A professional baseball pitcher experiences similar, although obviously heightened, effects in the various joints of his pitching arm. But assuming you haven't signed a multimillion dollar contract to constantly pop your knuckles, it hardly seems worth the possible risk to your joints. On the positive side, there is evidence of increased mobility in joints right after popping. When joints are manipulated, the Golgi tendon organs (a set of nerve endings involved in humans' motion sense) are stimulated and the muscles surrounding the joint are relaxed. This is part of the reason why people can feel "loose" and invigorated after leaving the chiropractor's office, where cavitation is induced as part of the treatment. Backs, knees, elbows and all other movable joints are subject to the same kind of manipulation as knuckles are.
What is cracking of knuckles?
When gas bubbles in your fingers pop, does not damage to body, just gas.....
What really happens when you crack your knuckles?
Cracking your knuckles releases a gas that naturally forms in your joints. Cracking them isn't bad for you unless it causes pain.
Why do knuckles make sound?
Knuckles "crack" because gas builds up in the joint and is released when you apply pressure to it. So really cracking is not a correct term. Release of gas is.
Is cracking your knuckles good?
I'm not sure but when you crack your knuckles it releases the gas from your joints It doesn't hurt you if you stop (even though I do). There may be rumors saying knuckle cracking leads to arthritis but there is no concrete evidence supporting this. CRACK AWAY!
If you stop cracking your knuckles will they get smaller?
I believe the swelling casued by cracking knuckles is just a myth, I have been cracking them and know people who used to do it or still do it, they never noticed any swelling. Actually when you crack knuckles there is hydrogen and some other gas bubble like substance which actually burst and that is how you hear the crack, so I think that has nothing to with Swelling of fingers or toes
What will happen if you crack your knuckles too much?
Cracking your knuckles is just releasing the nitrogen in between your joints. Cracking your knuckles can cause you to crack them more often. Your knuckles may become larger from cracking them.
Why do knuckles crack?
Tiny bubbles of gas, which is made of nitrgen and oxigen build up in the joints. It is these you hear popping to make the cracking sound.
Does cracking your knuckles give you double knuckles?
no it cracks because the bubble forms in a process called "cavitation." Once you've cracked your knuckle, it takes about 25-30 minutes for the gas to dissolve into the joint fluid. During this time, you can't crack the knuckle again. But once the gas is dissolved, cavitation is once again possible, and you can start popping your knuckles to your hand's content.
Why does your neck pop when you turn your head left?
Mine does not, but I suspect that, if yours does, it is due to the sudden release of gas that can build up in your spinal column and is the same phenomenon as cracking the knuckles of your hands.
Is it bad that i crack my knuckles?
It's O.K. to crack your knuckles. Really, you're not cracking them, you are simply pulling the joint and when you get that sound, that's a gas that's being released. No trauma or damage to the joint is done.
What causes the knucles to crack?
Actually, I believe I had been told that the cracking sound you hear when you bend your fingers/knuckles in such a way, is actually the sound of bubbles of gas between your joints popping. This always seemed logical to me, because in biology you learn about the different types of gases and acids in the body that build up in certain areas due to movement or lack of movement. The sound you hear when cracking knuckles is the sound of gas being released in the joints as the presume on them is relieved.
What causes the sound of cracking knuckles?
If you pull on the joint capsule, the walls of the capsule expand and lower the pressure on the fluid inside it. The gas then comes out of solution suddenly and forms bubbles, which then pop making a popping noise.
