Do You Crack Your Knuckles?

Oasis Chiropractic and Wellness Center logo
crack your knuckles

Doesn’t cracking my joints cause arthritis?

How many times have we all been told cracking your fingers will cause you to have arthritis and to knock it off? Many! The truth of the matter is that if you crack your knuckles the sound is actually the release of gases from the joint. So if you crack your knuckles there is little evidence that ties that to arthritis.

Arthritis can actually be a process that occurs when our bones are not moving the way they should. This causes dysfunction all around that area, along with others, that can lead to changes of the bone and disc in your back.

That being said let’s talk about what we do in our office as far as “cracking”. First off we call it a “cavitation” and it is something that can be a result of an “adjustment”. An adjustment is a specific force delivered to a specific misalignment of the spine. Sometimes in this process there is a cracking sound that is produced, but that is not the adjustment. There are also adjustments that do not create the sound, for a cavitation is not a requirement.

If someone is not a fan of the cavitation, we do offer other options in our clinic. We do have some adjusting tools such as the Activator that can be used to still achieve an adjustment. It is a spring loaded device that is able to apply a specific force, at a specific depth and speed. It is something that is approved to use even on babies and elderly with osteoporotic bone.

So to get back to the real question….. NO, CRACKING JOINTS WILL NOT GIVE YOU ARTHRITIS.

Share this:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

LATEST POST

All hours are by appointment only

please call us at 651-458-5565 to schedule