• Question: is cracking your fingers bad for them?

    Asked by lemon to Hannah, Jenny, Steven on 17 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: Hannah Bolt

      Hannah Bolt answered on 17 Nov 2016:

      Hi lemon,

      Some people think that cracking your knuckles can be bad for you and cause arthritis, but I’ve just done a quick search and actually there isn’t much scientific proof for this. The reason your fingers make the crack sound is because bubbles in your joint fluid pop. I don’t like cracking my own fingers though – I’m quite squeamish and it makes me feel weird!

      Hannah

    • Photo: Jenny Batson

      Jenny Batson answered on 17 Nov 2016:

      I asked a friend and it turns out that a guy tested this by only cracking the fingers on one hand his whole life but there wasn’t any difference between the hand he cracked and he one he didn’t. This doesn’t sound like a very scientifically rigorous test though (for example, its only one person and we don’t know what else he did differently with either hand or whether he had arthritis at all).
      Jenny

    • Photo: Steven Street

      Steven Street answered on 18 Nov 2016:

      Hi lemon,

      Hmm I also thought that it could cause arthritis, but it turns out that that’s not true!

      So basically I don’t think we really know?

      Steve

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