\n<\/p>\n
\u2018T<\/span>his is a common question I get asked over the dinner table,\u201d says Kimme Hyrich, a rheumatologist and professor of epidemiology at the University of Manchester. And it\u2019s no wonder \u2013 as many as 54% of us are habitual knuckle crackers, regularly making those distinctive popping noises as we manipulate the joints.<\/p>\n \u201cThe knuckle joint is a very tight space and there\u2019s a little bit of fluid in it. When people crack their knuckles, they very temporarily enlarge the space,\u201d says Hyrich. \u201cThe pressure drops and gas that\u2019s dissolved in that fluid forms bubbles \u2013 and it\u2019s the bursting of those bubbles that causes the sound.\u201d<\/p>\n The type of arthritis people tend to worry about is osteoarthritis \u2013 the most common form. It\u2019s a painful condition that causes swelling and stiffness in the joints, and becomes more common as we age. \u201cWe don\u2019t fully understand the cause,\u201d Hyrich says, \u201cbut genetics play a large role. Joint trauma is also a risk factor.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s probably this association with injury that fuels concerns about knuckle-cracking. \u201cPeople are likely worried they\u2019re damaging the joint,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n But is there any actual harm? According to Hyrich, the evidence says no. \u201cResearchers have looked at people with and without arthritis and asked whether they cracked their knuckles \u2013 there\u2019s been no difference. Others have compared people who do and don\u2019t crack their knuckles using X-rays \u2013 again, no difference.\u201d<\/p>\n Perhaps the most famous example is a US physician who, in an effort to prove his mother wrong, cracked the knuckles on just one hand every day for over 60 years. When he finally had both hands assessed, there were no signs of arthritis in either.<\/p>\n So what kinds of trauma do increase your risk of osteoarthritis? \u201cSporting injuries,\u201d Hyrich says, \u201csuch as breaking a bone near your joint, or tearing ligaments.\u201d People who already have another kind of arthritis, such as the autoimmune condition rheumatoid arthritis, are also more prone to osteoarthritis.<\/p>\n Her best advice for avoiding it? \u201cMaintain a healthy lifestyle, stay active, and keep to a healthy weight.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u2018This is a common question I get asked over the dinner table,\u201d says Kimme Hyrich, a rheumatologist and professor of epidemiology at the University of Manchester. And it\u2019s no wonder \u2013 as many as 54% of us are habitual knuckle crackers, regularly making those distinctive popping noises as we manipulate the joints. \u201cThe knuckle joint<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11515,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[4911,4909,4910,337,891,1933],"class_list":{"0":"post-11514","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-social-issues","8":"tag-arthritis","9":"tag-cracking","10":"tag-knuckles","11":"tag-life","12":"tag-style","13":"tag-true"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}