You’re either a knuckle cracker, or you’re not. Either way, there’s long been debate about what actually happens when you do it. Now we know.
We’ve all argued one way or the other about joint cracking and whether it’s damaging to the hand when you’re doing it.
Now scientists have teamed up to settle the debate.
In a recent study called PLOS ONE, researchers found that cracking knuckles forms a temporary cavity in the body… So the long thought theory that the crack is a bubble popping is actually not true.
The study took a bunch of examples, filming an MRI video capturing each knuckle joint crack in real time.
The researchers found when a joint separated, making that “crack” sound, a gas-filled cavity formed within the synovial fluid, which is the substance that lubricates your joints.
The study will go towards helping scientists better understand joint problems like arthritis and injuries.
Essentially, they have found that frequent knuckle cracking doesn’t seem to have any bad long-term effects on the local area.
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