Does cracking your own knuckles give you arthritis?

Many people crack their own knuckles, if you are one of many it is likely that at some stage someone has told you ‘don’t you know that gives you arthritis?’

Ig Nobel Winner Donald L. Unger was one of these people and he tested this theory by cracking the knuckles on his left hand and leaving his right knuckles free for 60 years. After this period he noticed no change in one hand versus the other.

Now this is just one person, but a study done in 2011 with 215 respondance demonstrated that cracking your knuckles is not a risk factor for arthritis. Although cracking your knuckles won’t give you arthritis we recommend that you don’t crack them too often as this can lead to loose joints.

K. deWeber, M.Olszewski, R.Ortolano. 2011. Knuckle cracking and hand osteoarthritis. Journal of the American Family of medicine

Dr Michael Henderson
Chiropractor
Lamp Chiropractic