Cracking your knuckles: good, bad or just annoying?

07/05/2025 13 min
Cracking your knuckles: good, bad or just annoying?

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Episode Synopsis


You might’ve been told by parents, teachers, colleagues, friends of friends to stop cracking your knuckles because it will give you arthritis.There’s a surprising amount of science going on when you crack a joint, and it suggests there’s very little risk of harming your bones.But as Norman and Tegan explain, there is one major risk – you could irritate everybody around you.References:Mathematical Model for the Sounds Produced by Knuckle Cracking | Scientific ReportsDoes knuckle cracking lead to arthritis of the fingers?The Consequences of Habitual Knuckle CrackingEffect of habitual knuckle cracking on hand functionThere might not be anything wrong with your creaky joints - the Health ReportMisophonia: When sounds really do make you "crazy" - Harvard Health