The Truth About Knuckle Cracking
Hello My Creaky-Jointed Friends!
Do you feel like the Tin Man sometimes? Like you’ve been left on the side of the Yellow Brick Road for years, waiting for someone to come along and oil your rusty joints? There are a lot of myths out there about Arthritis, what causes it, what aggravates it, etc. Who has the real answers? Maybe the great and powerful Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Luckily for you, I am going to be scouring the web and other reputable sources to try to sort of fact from fiction, so you don’t have to.
Let’s start with some age old maternal warnings. Almost as often as my mother nagged, “Don’t cross your eyes or they’ll get stuck that way,” she used to tell me that cracking my knuckles would lead to arthritis down the line. Was she lying to me?
According to MedicineNet.com my mom’s a big fat liar; Knuckle cracking does not cause arthritis. The cracking sound you hear when you “crack” a joint is actually caused by negative pressure pulling nitrogen gas into the joint temporarily. This is not harmful to your joints.
Well that’s one arthritis myth de-mystified, and countless more to go. ’Til next time, be kind to your joints!
Check out these informative articles for more information:
WiseGeek: Is it Harmful to Crack my Knuckles?
About.Com: Osteoarthritis: Does Cracking Your Knuckles Cause Arthritis?
Thanks, good to know, since I cracked my knuckles and neck while reading this