Originally Posted by
englishwitch
6 Arthritic Knuckles
The Myth: Cracking your knuckles will cause arthritis in later life
The cracking sound in the knuckles is caused by the bones moving apart and forming a gas bubble - the sound is the bubble bursting. It is quite common to hear someone warning a knuckle-cracker that they will get arthritis, but the worst that can happen to a compulsive-cracker is that their finger joints may weaken over time. Arthritis is caused by a variety of things (such as crystal formations in the case of gout) - but knuckle cracking isn’t one of them.