Should you stop cracking your knuckles?

(bbc.com)

21 points | by tchalla 5 hours ago

7 comments

  • ElijahLynn 1 hour ago
    This is good to read about, and nice that it has and research referenced.

    It's interesting to know that it's gas collapsing. And nothing to do with the bone rubbing.

    And it makes you wonder what chiropractors are actually doing when they're popping your back... It's probably not doing anything to help you with your pain. And it's probably not actually adjusting anything.

    • PaulDavisThe1st 1 hour ago
      I recommend reading up on the actual history of chiropractic ... I've seen articles that seem to make it clear that it was long con right from the start.

      I acknowledge that this is not the only view on the history.

      • chneu 33 minutes ago
        Its a con that is trying very hard to become legitimate.

        Chiros started as a scam, continued as a scam, and are now a widely accepted scam. The legit work they do is often just physical therapy.

        Just go to a physical therapist.

        • burnt-resistor 0 minutes ago
          It's a con like osteopathic "medicine". D.O. should be shunned and rejected because it's pretending to be legitimate and/or legitimized.
      • bena 1 hour ago
        “You have a fever because of the ghosts in your bones”
    • selectodude 1 hour ago
      If a chiropractor could adjust something by pushing on your bone, imagine what tripping and falling would do.
      • BenjiWiebe 1 hour ago
        Tripping and falling can mess you up for a long time. And I don't mean broken bones.
        • danpalmer 26 minutes ago
          So can a chiropractor!
    • wahern 39 minutes ago
      Chiropratic can help with pain, but not for the claimed reasons. Studies show it's as efficacious as massage therapy. I believe the same is true of cupping. Insurers increasingly cover these sorts of therapies, and primary's increasingly prescribe them, because they're cheaper than a real doctor's time, especially a specialist's, and the patient is more likely to feel better than if they were subjected to a long diagnostic gauntlet with an inconclusive end.
    • LeoPanthera 1 hour ago
      It's surprising that it's not common knowledge that "Chiropractic" is not medicine, nor a science, and the field is associated with vaccine misinformation and unproven supplements.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiropractic

      • emmelaich 3 minutes ago
        Sadly many universities offer degrees with chiropractic being a major part.
  • codetiger 24 minutes ago
    Another question, has anyone noticed cracking knuckles being contagious like yarning? I often crack my knuckles and quite often see others noticing and doing it themselves.
  • eth0up 1 hour ago
    Bruce Lee cracked his knuckles a lot, and he died in his 30s. He was in great shape too.

    But I think it's mostly just escaping gases.

    Edit: ^ is my way of asking why this is on HN, which I never do, cause then someone could ask the same about me.

  • abstractspoon 1 hour ago
    Betteridge says?
  • dgritsko 1 hour ago
    TL,DR: No, unless you're doing it so hard that you're straining your joints. But don't crack your neck.
    • ranger_danger 1 hour ago
      > don't crack your neck

      The article makes a point to mention specifically that excessive/forceful neck cracking can be dangerous, but then switches to just "Cracking your own neck is not recommended"... but to me it sounds like they're referring more to the forceful kind, such as the manipulations on youtube they reference.

      I suppose it's like asking people to stop using q-tips... they're probably not going to, and the amount of people accidentally injured from either seems to be quite low.

      • s1artibartfast 1 hour ago
        Yeah, and with the q-tips, it seems trival to do it safely. For some reason, be aware or careful always gets compressed to avoidance
        • lokar 58 minutes ago
          YouTube has some pretty awful videos of ear canals full of cotton fibers. Touching the eardrum is not the only risk.
          • sublinear 46 minutes ago
            And you think YouTube represents the average user of q-tips?

            Even when YouTube has videos uploaded by doctors having to put up with this kind of stupidity, it doesn't change the fact that hardly anyone does that. The vast majority of stuff uploaded to YouTube isn't even that. It's losers trying to get views.

        • georgemcbay 24 minutes ago
          > For some reason, be aware or careful always gets compressed to avoidance

          The reason is legal liability, generally.

          If you sell Q-Tips and tell people to be careful when sticking them in their ears you're likely to be held legally liable when someone isn't careful because there will be infinite wiggle room for them to claim you didn't specify the safe use clearly enough.

          If you sell Q-Tips and tell people not to put them in their ear (even though you know that's why most people are buying them) then when someone sues you for messing up their ear you can tap the words on the box and say "well, we told you not to do that".

  • analog31 1 hour ago
    Not in my house. It's annoying.
    • anigbrowl 1 hour ago
      I have bad news for you about what happens your joints as you get older