My husband loves it very much crack your fingers. This is his habit. The sound that is produced during these manipulations is not very pleasant to the ears of others. And recently I was told that this habit leads to arthrosis in old age.

My son also repeats this habit after my husband, and I don’t want my boys to damage their joints... Therefore, it is very important for me to understand whether cracking fingers is an innocent habit or joint destruction?

Editorial “So Simple!” I decided to shed light on the question of whether cracking your fingers is actually harmful?

Crunching in joints

Californian doctor, Donald Unger, in his books and publications, mentions that since childhood, he cracked the knuckles of his left hand every day. Naturally, Donald often heard a warning from his mother that he would suffer from arthritis in his old age. But having lived to the age of 83, he claims that the sensations in his right and left hands are the same.

From his point of view, the sound that we hear when we crunch our fingers is just the bursting of gas bubbles. And with this procedure we stimulate the tendons, relax the muscles and weaken the joints.

In the joint area, the bone is covered with articular cartilage, and the joint itself is surrounded by a special capsule, which is filled with synovial fluid. The fluid reduces friction and promotes joint mobility.

When you make a sharp movement with your fingers, the space of the capsule with liquid expands and the pressure in it drops. Oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide dissolved in it seem to boil, forming bursting bubbles. This is the sound we hear when a person cracks his joints.

Orthopedists believe that the characteristic sound occurs in the ligaments and tendons. When bending or stretching the joints, the tendons seem to overcome resistance and make a crunching sound. Regular forced restoration of joint mobility in this way can lead to its destabilization.

Orthopedic doctors say that if you “crunch” your fingers a couple of times in your life, nothing bad will happen. But what if you do this all the time?

At first, a person will not feel harm from the “loosening” of the joints, but after 9-13 years of this addiction, you will notice that the joints will begin to swell and the fingers will take on an ugly shape.

With prolonged crunching of the fingers, there is a possibility of destabilizing the joints, and this in turn can provoke dislocations and pinched nerve endings, and then lead to inflammatory processes in tissues. And the next step will be the appearance of arthritis.

If the desire to crack a joint arises as a way to relieve discomfort in your fingers, be sure to consult a doctor. A constant desire to stretch indicates numerous muscle spasms.

Also, the habit of cracking your fingers can be neurotic or stressful. This is also worth paying attention to.

Leading orthopedists and traumatologists, if the need arises to “crunch your fingers,” suggest replacing this procedure with dynamic exercises or pampering your fingers with baths with added sea salt.

Exercises for hand joints

Bend and straighten your fingers into a fist. When performing this movement, remember to tense your fingers. This exercise should be done 4-5 times.
Imagine that you are flicking someone on the forehead. Such virtual clicks should be performed with each finger. This exercise should be done 2-3 times.
Squeeze your fingers one by one, starting from the little finger and ending with the thumb, then do the opposite. This exercise should be done 2-3 times.
Perform crossing your fingers in the manner of a scissors exercise. This exercise should be done 4-5 times.
Join your fingers in a “lock” and lift them above your head, and then sharply lower them down, each separately. This exercise should be done 3-4 times.
Connect your fingers again into a “lock” and make a “wave” with them. This exercise should be done 4-5 times.

After several hours at an office desk or in front of a computer, many people develop a feeling of stiffness, which they try to get rid of by cracking their joints.

This really brings relief, but isn’t it harmful to crack your fingers in order to restore their mobility? Doctors say it is better to give preference to the usual hand massage or light physical exercise. And if you choose a time to visit the pool regularly, your joints will be very grateful to you.

I also suggest you familiarize yourself with a useful and interesting way to relieve stress from your hands after a working day.

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There are as many disputes on this issue as there are disputes on the topic “Who came first, the chicken or the egg”!

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If you wish, you can find a lot of articles proving that this is a completely harmless habit or, on the contrary, a dangerous procedure, the consequences of which you will face in old age. Many may reassure you, while others, on the contrary, may scare you with arthritis.

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And in general, why do people crack their fingers?

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It is interesting that in ancient times in the Middle East it was customary at funerals and as a sign of grief for a deceased person to loudly crack one’s fingers and at the same time wring one’s hands. But for some reason, truly grieving people, such as widows, were never able to crack their fingers. Therefore, it was necessary to hire special mourners, who, among other things, were obliged to “wring their hands.”

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Nowadays, some people just love to crack their knuckles. The sound made by the joints greatly unnerves others. Maybe that’s why a person enjoys such actions?)))

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Sometimes it seems to a person that this is the only way to stretch stiff hands and relieve tension. Gradually, this “relaxation” develops into a bad habit, because the more often you crack your fingers, the more often you feel the desire to repeat the “procedure”.

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So to crunch or not to crunch?

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Let's look at the pros and cons of finger cracking together. You can read the opinion about the harmlessness of finger crunching from many elderly, authoritative people, for example, such as Californian doctor, Donald Unger. In his books and publications, he mentions that since childhood, he cracked the knuckles of his left hand every day. Naturally, he very often heard a warning from his mother that arthritis would await him in old age. But having lived to the age of 83, he claims that the sensations in his right and left hands are the same.

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From his point of view, with this procedure we stimulate the tendons, relax the muscles and weaken the joints. But then I would like to ask a question to the respected Mr. Donald Unger. If, as he claims, cracking his fingers is not only harmless, but also useful, then why are his hands in the same condition in old age? Shouldn't his left hand feel better than his right? Do not forget that Donald Unger received his prize in medicine not for proving the harmlessness of the habit of cracking fingers, but for conducting an experiment on himself!

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But what actually happens in the joint?

Roughly speaking, a joint is the junction of two bones, surrounded by a joint capsule that is filled with fluid. When we crack our fingers, we expand the space between the bones. There is not enough joint fluid to fill the resulting gap. Therefore, the pressure inside drops, forming a bubble filled with gas. It bursts, and we hear a characteristic sound.

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The second photo shows that when the joint is stretched, a cavity forms in it

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Orthopedists against crunching!

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Leading orthopedists strongly discourage cracking your fingers. Doctors agree that the sound we hear when we crack our fingers is bursting gas bubbles. But I want to figure out what kind of gas it is and where the bubbles in it come from.

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When a person cracks his fingers, he sharply reduces the pressure in the interarticular fluid and the gas in it releases bubbles, and they, in turn, burst and we hear it. Over time, everything will fall into place, but until that happens, in the joints of the fingers the balance of the interarticular fluid is disturbed and because of this the joints become loose.

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If you “crack” your fingers a couple of times in your life, nothing bad will happen, but if you do this all the time?

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At first, you may not feel any harm from “loosening” your joints, but after 8-12 years of this addiction, you will notice that the joints will begin to swell and your fingers will take on an ugly shape.

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With prolonged crunching of your fingers, you can destabilize the joints, and this in turn can provoke dislocations and pinched nerve endings, and then lead to inflammatory processes in the tissues.

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And the next step will be the appearance of arthritis.

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Famous doctors Castellanos J. and Axelrod D. When writing their book “Annals of Rheumatic Disease” (1990), they conducted research on the effects of finger crunching... based on X-rays they prove that this habit leads to swelling of the joints and deformation of the fingers.

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Conclusion - any crunch is harmful!

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There are people who love to crack their knuckles. Most often, such a crunch occurs when bending the fingers, although the crunch can also be produced using the neck, spine, etc.

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It is believed that if you frequently crunch joints, vertebrae and other human accessories that can make a crunching sound, then soon the ligaments in these places become increasingly stretched and their functioning decreases. Here two camps appear: some say that you are guaranteed to have arthritis, while others completely deny it. Okay, all this is great, but we need some kind of answer - is crunching harmful or not?

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Harmful! Therefore, quit this bad habit, i.e. crunch on purpose. On the other hand, if you periodically do exercises or stretching, then a crunch in the spine is inevitable, but it is unlikely to cause harm. On the contrary, it is useful. Or you may get the impression that you need to give up any physical exercise with the note: “no matter what happens.” So it is very undesirable to intentionally crack your fingers and, especially, your neck, because sooner or later it will come back to haunt you.

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Dynamic exercises for finger joints:

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1. Bend and straighten your fingers into a fist; when performing this movement, do not forget to tense your fingers. This exercise should be done 4-5 times.
2. Imagine that you are clicking someone on the forehead. Such virtual clicks should be performed with each finger. This exercise should be done 2-3 times.
3. Squeeze your fingers one by one, starting from the little finger and ending with the thumb, then do the opposite. This exercise should be done 2-3 times.
4. Cross your fingers like a scissors exercise. This exercise should be done 4-5 times.
5. Connect your fingers into a “lock”, lift them above your head and sharply lower them down, each separately. This exercise should be done 3-4 times.
6. Connect your fingers into a “lock” and make a “wave” with them. This exercise should be done 4-5 times.

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These simple and painless exercises will replace crunching your fingers.

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But if exercises help your fingers, then, unfortunately, they will not help you get rid of the habit. Try to distract yourself when the urge to crack your fingers arises. To begin with, you can simply massage your hands. If this doesn’t help, roll small balls or a pen between your fingers, or even better, buy yourself a Rubik’s cube and solve it whenever you want to crunch your fingers. And it should be remembered that at a young age it is much easier to get rid of a bad habit than at an old age.

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But if you really want to crunch, then why not crunch?

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Crunch it right!

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1-clasp your palms together. Let's say it's like holding a die between them. This is the first stage.

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2- Straighten your fingers sharply and press on the joint of each phalanx. The bottom ones will be easy to crunch, the top ones will be more difficult, but it’s also possible. The force with which you press should be enough to make it snap immediately.

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Sometimes it doesn't help. If you keep pressing and pressing, if your finger is already sore and not crunching, leave that finger alone!

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3- Another option is to clench one palm into a fist. Then, accordingly, you need to rest your other palm on it and press. This way you can crunch a whole row at once!

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You can turn your hand a little and press on the upper joints too. By the way, you will have to get used to this, and at first it will also hurt.

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4- Crunch one finger at a time. Make a fist as required for other methods, but now concentrate on one finger at a time. If you direct all the pressure onto one finger, the crunching can be very loud!

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With the palm of one hand, hold the one on which you will apply pressure. You need to press on this finger with your thumb. Press either from the top or bottom of your finger - the main thing is to do it one at a time. Experiment and don't clench your hand into a fist. Instead, cup your palms as if you were praying. Your fingers and palms should touch each other. Then spread your palms... and keep your fingers still pressed against each other! Apply more pressure with your fingers, spreading your palms apart until it cracks.

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Here you may need to move your hands a little. The middle and ring fingers should crack immediately, the index and little fingers after some time. 6-Learn to crunch by twisting your fingers.

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There are two options here:

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With one hand, grab your finger, keep your finger straight, and begin to turn your hand. Over time you will learn, it will work out well!

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You can also crunch the upper phalanges this way - you just need to take it a little higher.

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Grab the top of your finger and rotate your hand. In other words, you will not be twirling the crunching hand, but rather twirling the hand while crunching.

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7-Learn to crack your fingers without touching them at all. Tighten your fingers and begin to slowly bend them forward. This may work if you have an easy crunch at all. However, for many this is an unattainable dream.

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Even fewer people know how to squeeze a crunch out of a finger that has just cracked. If you can’t do this, don’t worry - you’ll succeed in 5-10 minutes.

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There are many ways to squeeze a crunch out of your fingers: twirl your fingers, type with them, and then suddenly pull them out... the main thing is to pull harder.

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You can crunch each finger separately, and you may even find that your fingers crunch at one angle or another. Experiment by twisting your arms!

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With your thumb and forefinger, pinch the finger on your other hand by the middle phalanx, squeeze it, turn it back and forth - and you will hear not a crunch, but something like a “click”.

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You can press down hard on the bottom of your finger to get a crunch out of it. Believe me, it will work out, although not right away.

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Relax your fingers, then grab one of them and begin to bend it to the sides.

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Crunching in joints is a “cracking” sound that occurs during passive or active movements. Most often, a crunch occurs when the fingers are deliberately bent (stretched) to an extreme position. Crunching can occur in many joints, such as the spine, hip, wrist, elbow, shoulder, fingers, knees, jaw and others.

Why does this crunch and crackle appear? Is it harmful to do this?

The causes of this crunch have been the subject of controversy in the medical literature since at least the 1930s, but agreement among scientists has never been reached. In 1947, British researchers first put forward a theory according to which the cause was the formation of “empty bubbles” in the joints. At the moment when the contact between the surfaces of the bones in the joint disappears, the pressure of the synovial fluid drops, and the gas dissolved in it is released into bubbles, just like bubbles appear in a bottle of sparkling water when you open it. A hypothesis explaining the cracking of fingers by the appearance of a gas bubble in the joint was put forward in 1947 by two doctors from St. Thomas's Hospital in London, who conducted experiments using an X-ray machine.

Studies have shown that synovial fluid contains quite a lot of dissolved gas - carbon dioxide (approximately 15% of the total volume). And in 1947, Wheeler Haines proposed (using evidence obtained from x-ray diffraction) that the click is caused by the sudden formation of gas cavities, which create the opportunity for a sudden expansion of the amplitude of movement, which generates the sound. However, using a high-speed camera, it was shown that the bubbles collapse again 0.01 seconds after they appear. Later, for a long time, it was believed that the collapse of gas bubbles causes the joint to crack. Since not all gas bubbles collapse, it takes some time for it to completely dissolve (about 15 minutes) in the synovial fluid, and time is also required for the articular surfaces to come together (only then is the cavitation effect possible). For example, when stretching a finger, a vacuum is created in the metacarpophalangeal joint, gas cavities are suddenly formed, which then instantly collapse, which generates vibrations that are transmitted to the surrounding tissues.

Using magnetic resonance imaging, Canadian researchers were able to answer the question of why a crunching sound is heard when you pull a finger. This time, scientists led by Professor Gregory N. Kawchuk from the University of Alberta in Edmonton resorted to the achievements of 21st century technology. They built a device that made it possible to pull a finger while the hand was in the tomograph. The tomograph recorded the process at a speed of 3.2 frames per second.

As a result, it was possible to establish that the cause of the sound is a phenomenon that physicists call tribonucleation. Cavitation (or tribonucleation) is the formation of small gas cavities in the joint, which can dramatically increase the volume of intra-articular space.

When two solid surfaces are immersed in a liquid containing dissolved gas, their joining and separation can cause small gas bubbles to appear. In technology, tribonucleation is observed, for example, in bearings. In the case of finger crunching, bones act as hard surfaces, surrounded by synovial fluid, which fills the joint cavity.

In each case, the crunching and "splitting" of the joint was associated with the rapid appearance of a gas-filled cavity, a bubble in the synovial fluid - an extremely slippery substance that moistens the joints. When the surface of the joint suddenly “spreads”, there is not enough fluid to fill the volume of the joint, so a cavity is created, and this leads to the production of sound.

Gregory Kovchuk compares the behavior of the joint to two wet glass plates placed next to each other. They are very difficult to separate, since the water film between them creates resistance that must be overcome. That is, the sound that the tape makes, if you tear the ego off the wall, then it causes this sound.

And its cause is a cavity that quickly forms inside the joint. The working title of the study (“Pull My Finger”) reflected its essence - this is exactly how the observation took place, which was recorded using MRI and showed what was happening inside the joints. To find answers, the research team needed someone who could crack knuckles to order, since most people who are able to “crack” cannot always get all their knuckles to crack and, after a standard break, do it again. The subject's fingers were alternately placed in a tube connected to a cable, which was slightly stretched until the joint cracked. The crunch was recorded on the MRI in real time and occurred every 310 milliseconds.

In 2015, a real-time MRI scan conducted by a group of scientists showed that it is the moment of formation of bubbles in the synovial fluid that causes a click, and their collapse occurs silently.

Conclusion

1. Crunching is absolutely normal, there is no harm. But also benefits.

2. “The ability to crack your knuckles may be related to joint health,” says study author Kauchak.

3. Does not cause arthrosis. There is a popular belief that crunching is deliberately harmful and can cause various diseases of the musculoskeletal system (arthritis, osteoarthritis). A recent X-ray study of 215 people found that there was no difference in the risk of joint disease between people who crack their knuckles and those who don't. It also does not matter the frequency with which this manipulation is performed.

3. Don't panic. If a crunch in a joint is not accompanied by pain, swelling, or fever, then there is definitely no reason to panic. If any of the above symptoms are present, you should consult a doctor.

4. Shnobel. Dr. Donald Unger conducted his own experiment. He cracked the fingers of only one left hand every day for 60 years, after which no differences in the hands were detected. The scientist received the so-called Ig Nobel (not Nobel!) Prize for this work in 2009

5. The desire to crunch. If crunching causes discomfort, or the desire to crack a joint arises as a way to relieve discomfort in the joint, it is worth finding a specialist who can assess the functional state of the joints (usually an assessment of biomechanical chains is needed, not just one joint) and the muscles involved in their movement (orthopedist, doctor Exercise therapy, rehabilitation therapist, competent fitness trainer). A constant desire to stretch indicates numerous muscle spasms.

6. Neurotic crunching of the lapels. Another study found that the habit of cracking your knuckles may correlate with the presence of habits such as smoking, alcoholism or nail biting, i.e. be of a neurotic or stressful nature. This is also worth paying attention to.

Although, of course, cracking your fingers, knees, neck, spine is not the same thing. This is due to the fact that the spinal region contains more nerve endings that are easily pinched.

sources

There are as many disputes on this issue as there are disputes on the topic “Who came first, the chicken or the egg”! If you wish, you can find a lot of articles proving that this is a completely harmless habit or, on the contrary, a dangerous procedure, the consequences of which you will face in old age. Many may reassure you, while others, on the contrary, may scare you with arthritis. “So to crunch or not to crunch?” you ask. Let's look at the pros and cons of finger cracking together.

You can read the opinion about the harmlessness of finger cracking from many elderly, authoritative people, for example, such as Californian doctor, Donald Unger. In his books and publications, he mentions that since childhood, he cracked the knuckles of his left hand every day. Naturally, he very often heard a warning from his mother that arthritis would await him in old age. But having lived to the age of 83, he claims that the sensations in his right and left hands are the same. From his point of view, the sound that we hear when we crunch our fingers is just the bursting of gas bubbles. And with this procedure we stimulate the tendons, relax the muscles and weaken the joints. But then I would like to ask a question to the respected Mr. Donald Unger. If, as he claims, cracking his fingers is not only harmless, but also useful, then why are his hands in the same condition in old age? Shouldn't his left hand feel better than his right? Do not forget that Donald Unger received his prize in medicine not for proving the harmlessness of the habit of cracking fingers, but for conducting an experiment on himself!

And on the contrary, Leading orthopedists strongly advise against cracking your fingers. Doctors agree that the sound we hear when we crunch our fingers is bursting gas bubbles. But I want to figure out what kind of gas it is and where the bubbles in it come from. When a person cracks his fingers, he sharply reduces the pressure in the interarticular fluid and the gas in it releases bubbles, and they, in turn, burst and we hear it. Over time, everything will fall into place, but while this happens, the balance of interarticular fluid in the joints of the fingers is disturbed and because of this, the joints become “loose.” If you “crunch” your fingers a couple or three times in your life, nothing bad will happen, but if you do this all the time? At first, you may not feel any harm from “loosening” your joints, but after 8-12 years of this addiction, you will notice that your joints will begin to swell and your fingers will take on an ugly shape. With prolonged crunching of your fingers, you can destabilize the joints, and this in turn can provoke dislocations and pinched nerve endings, and then lead to inflammatory processes in the tissues. And the next step will be the appearance of arthritis.

Famous doctors Castellanos J. and Axelrod D. when writing their book “ Chronicle of Rheumatic Disease” (1990) conducted studies on the effects of cracking fingers, based on x-rays, they prove that this habit leads to swelling of the joints and deformation of the fingers.

Dynamic exercises for finger joints:
1. Bend and straighten your fingers into a fist; when performing this movement, do not forget to tense your fingers. This exercise should be done 4-5 times.
2. Imagine that you are clicking someone on the forehead. Such virtual clicks should be performed with each finger. This exercise should be done 2-3 times.
3. Squeeze your fingers one by one, starting from the little finger and ending with the thumb, then do the opposite. This exercise should be done 2-3 times.
4. Cross your fingers like a scissors exercise. This exercise should be done 4-5 times.
5. Connect your fingers into a “lock”, lift them above your head and sharply lower them down, each separately. This exercise should be done 3-4 times.
6. Connect your fingers into a “lock” and make a “wave” with them. This exercise should be done 4-5 times.

These simple and painless exercises will replace crunching your fingers. But although exercises will help your fingers, unfortunately, they will not help you get rid of the habit. Try to distract yourself when the urge to crack your fingers arises. To begin with, you can simply massage your hands; if this doesn’t help, move small balls or a pen between your fingers, or even better, buy yourself a Rubik’s cube and solve it whenever you want to crunch your fingers. And it should be remembered that at a young age it is much easier to get rid of a bad habit than at an older age.

In the comments, tell us if it annoys you when someone cracks their knuckles or maybe you yourself have this strange habit.