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Does cracking ones knuckles lead to Osteoarthritis of the fingers?
The joint cavity is a potential space with a negative pressure compared with ambient atmospheric pressure. Joint synovial fluid acts as an adhesive seal that permits sliding motion between cartilage surfaces while effectively resisting distracting forces (due to surface tension). During knuckle cracking or popping, there is a fracture of this adhesive bond. A gas bubble is created within the joint, which cavitates with a cracking sound. This bubble of gas can require up to 30 minutes to dissolve before the synovial fluid adhesive bond can be reestablished and the joint “cracked” again. There are no data to support that it leads to OA of the finger joints. The evidence for this is a report by a physician who cracked the knuckles of his left hand twice a day for 50 years (36,500 times total) while not cracking the knuckles of his right hand. Symptom evaluation and radiographs showed that no arthritis developed in either hand. This is a classic example of a “two-arm trial without randomization.”
Sources
(Unger DL: Does knuckle cracking lead to arthritis of the fingers? Arthritis Rheum. 41:949–950, 1998.)
