Fact or Fiction – Will Cracking Your Knuckles Cause Arthritis

by Nicole Joseph

Growing up, most people heard the elders in our family say, “stop cracking your knuckles because it’ll cause arthritis!” Without fully understanding the impact of arthritis, it was clear that we didn’t want it. The saying put the fear of God in us – we wanted and needed our fingers!

Does cracking your knuckles cause arthritis?

So, what is arthritis, and can cracking your knuckles cause it? Arthritis is tenderness and swelling of more than one joint. The main symptoms include stiffness, pain, numbing, loss of alignment, fever, chronic fatigue, and loss of motion as arthritis worsens over time.

Also, arthritis isn’t specific to solely fingers, but it can happen anywhere in the body where joints and tendons are connected – for example, arthritis in the jaw, shoulder, knees, etc., you get the point.

The three most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and gout. The Mayo Clinic and Health Direct explain the two types as follows:

Gout is a type of arthritis leading to painful joint inflammation. The big toe is most commonly affected, but gout can affect the hands, wrists, knees, ankles, elbows, or any other joint.”

Factors that can cause arthritis includes excess weight gain, genetics, injury, age, or sex.

So does cracking your knuckles really cause arthritis? The true answer is FICTION! No, it does not. Whew, let’s clap for that!

However, cracking knuckles can cause swelling and pain over time and damage joint cartilage.

How to prevent yourself from cracking your knuckles

Keep cracking your knuckles, or not. But feel free to know that this mindless act that happens subconsciously is not dangerous.

It doesn’t cause arthritis, but it does cause temporal pain or swelling. If you’re okay with that, then keep on keeping on. If not, here are some activities you can do to prevent this mindless behavior: