Is it really that bad to crack your knuckles?

You’ve been warned since childhood that it’s a fast-track route to arthritis – but just like the assurance that eating your sandwich crusts would gift you cascading curls, it’s but a myth. Knuckle cracking – caused by small gas bubbles popping between finger joints – might sound grisly, but that’s about it. ‘It’s unlikely to cause long-term damage,’ says Mike Hayton, consultant orthopaedic hand surgeon. He points to a study by a Californian doctor who cracked his knuckles every day on one hand – and not the other – for 50 years, before X-raying them both to compare the progression of arthritis. There was no difference. Larger studies have come to the same conclusion. But while it may not cause you any longterm physical damage, it’s worth thinking about why it’s a habit in the first place. ‘Some people do it to relieve stress or anxiety,’ says Hayton. ‘So, look into the root cause if you think that’s you.’