Should you stop cracking your knuckles?

5 hours ago (bbc.com)

This is good to read about, and nice that it has and research referenced.

It's interesting to know that it's gas collapsing. And nothing to do with the bone rubbing.

And it makes you wonder what chiropractors are actually doing when they're popping your back... It's probably not doing anything to help you with your pain. And it's probably not actually adjusting anything.

  • I recommend reading up on the actual history of chiropractic ... I've seen articles that seem to make it clear that it was long con right from the start.

    I acknowledge that this is not the only view on the history.

    • Its a con that is trying very hard to become legitimate.

      Chiros started as a scam, continued as a scam, and are now a widely accepted scam. The legit work they do is often just physical therapy.

      Just go to a physical therapist.

      2 replies →

  • Chiropratic can help with pain, but not for the claimed reasons. Studies show it's as efficacious as massage therapy. I believe the same is true of cupping. Insurers increasingly cover these sorts of therapies, and primary's increasingly prescribe them, because they're cheaper than a real doctor's time, especially a specialist's, and the patient is more likely to feel better than if they were subjected to a long diagnostic gauntlet with an inconclusive end.

  • It's surprising that it's not common knowledge that "Chiropractic" is not medicine, nor a science, and the field is associated with vaccine misinformation and unproven supplements.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiropractic

Another question, has anyone noticed cracking knuckles being contagious like yarning? I often crack my knuckles and quite often see others noticing and doing it themselves.

Bruce Lee cracked his knuckles a lot, and he died in his 30s. He was in great shape too.

But I think it's mostly just escaping gases.

Edit: ^ is my way of asking why this is on HN, which I never do, cause then someone could ask the same about me.

TL,DR: No, unless you're doing it so hard that you're straining your joints. But don't crack your neck.

  • > don't crack your neck

    The article makes a point to mention specifically that excessive/forceful neck cracking can be dangerous, but then switches to just "Cracking your own neck is not recommended"... but to me it sounds like they're referring more to the forceful kind, such as the manipulations on youtube they reference.

    I suppose it's like asking people to stop using q-tips... they're probably not going to, and the amount of people accidentally injured from either seems to be quite low.