"Don't crack your knuckles! You're going to get arthritis when you get older!" was something I got told often as a kid. I kept doing it anyway. After learning that osteoarthritis is the 'wear and tear' type of arthritis, I began to believe this myth. I decided to look this up further than just asking and was somewhat surprised to what I learned. I researched and found an article regarding a study correlating knuckle cracking to hand detrimental (like osteoarthritis) and in fact there is no correlation between the two. This study describes what happens when you crack your knuckles. There is actually no 'wear and tear' on the cartilage. What does happen is a release from gases in the synovial fluid after the tension from cracking the knuckle changes the pressure in the cavity. There is a decrease in grip strength and ligaments may be injured; but the most important thing is: it does not cause osteoarthritis!
http://osteoarthritis.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=osteoarthritis&cdn=health&tm=85&f=00&tt=12&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi%3Fartid%3D1004074
Click here to go to the article.
