Is it true that cracking your fingers causes arthritis or joint problems?

We have all heard the sound that is made when someone cracks their fingers. A noise that, depending on the person, can be totally pleasant or that can produce the same sensation of teething that we feel when hearing a fork scratch a plate. However, although for some it may be a relief and for others it is unpleasant, there is a belief that performing this gesture can pose a risk to the joints of the fingers or even cause arthritis.

Some people carry out this practice as a way to loosen the joints, while others do it without even realizing this action, automatically. Nurse Jorge Ángel, better known as @enfermerojorgeangel on TikTok, where he publishes health-related content on his account, has cleared up doubts about the possible problems that this practice can cause.

According to the health worker, who has 5.7 million followers on this social network, when someone cracks their fingers “a dilation of the joint capsule occurs and the gases inside are released in the form of bubbles.” The truth is that it has nothing to do with the collision of the bones, as you might think, but with the noise produced by the gas pockets exploding inside the capsule of synovial fluid, which is present between any joint in the human body and It is responsible for lubricating our joints so that they function normally. In fact, this process has a name: cavitation.

Can cracking your fingers cause joint damage?

As this nurse, as well as other professionals, points out, the truth is that this practice does not pose any risk, as long as it is done “spontaneously.” Of course, if a person cracks their fingers regularly, “joint wear and tear and some injuries to the tendons or ligaments can occur.”

This means that this gesture does not have to cause any harm, as long as it is not done daily or very frequently. Furthermore, as Sanitas explains on its website, there are not enough studies to know what the harmful or beneficial effects (if any) of cracking the knuckles are, but there are various sources that indicate that it has nothing to do with the development of diseases such as arthritis. So “it can be said for now that cracking your knuckles does not cause this ailment in the future.”