# Negative effects of cracking your knuckles?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negative-effects-of-cracking-your-knuckles/201992>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 16, 2003, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negative-effects-of-cracking-your-knuckles/201992 "2003-09-16T19:58:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Whipeh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Whipeh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whipeh)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negative-effects-of-cracking-your-knuckles/201992/1 "2003-09-16T19:58:54Z")

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I have the habit of cracking my knuckles, and whenever I do it infront of my mom, she jumps on me about how I’m going to get arthritis, enlarged knukles, and other nasty, rather-they-not-happen-to-me things. Is this all true? I also crack my neck, though not as frequently. Any negative effects from this?

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**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negative-effects-of-cracking-your-knuckles/201992/2 "2003-09-16T20:44:05Z")

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[Cecil speaks.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_305b.html)

> [@](#):
>
> Will cracking your knuckles cause knobbiness and arthritis, as some claim? Not necessarily; genetics undoubtedly plays a much more important role. But some clinicians believe chronic knuckle-cracking can make things worse. And it certainly doesn’t do much for your standing in civilized society. Knock it off before it’s too late.

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**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negative-effects-of-cracking-your-knuckles/201992/3 "2003-09-16T20:50:39Z")

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[Cecil speaks.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_305b.html)

> [@](#):
>
> Will cracking your knuckles cause knobbiness and arthritis, as some claim? Not necessarily; genetics undoubtedly plays a much more important role. But some clinicians believe chronic knuckle-cracking can make things worse. And it certainly doesn’t do much for your standing in civilized society. Knock it off before it’s too late.