Myth: Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis
Bust: How many of you grew up with this myth? I was one of them. It’s still quite common to hear someone warning a knuckle-joint-cracker that they will get arthritis. The cracking sound in the knuckles is caused by the bones moving apart and forming a gas bubble. The sound is actually the bubble bursting. If you are a yoga practitioner you hear those bubbles bursting all the time. Arthritis occurs when the cartilage between joints wears down, usually due to disease or trauma. There’s no scientific evidence that knuckle cracking causes arthritis. Still, you don’t want to overdo the cracking, as excessive cracking can put stress on the joint and could result in injury. Same applies for back and neck cracking.
