Knuckle Cracking: How to Do It & Does It Cause Arthritis?

Learn about your knuckles and how snapping your joints impacts your health

Co-authored by Jason Piken and Eric McClure

Last Updated: March 24, 2023

Knuckle Cracking Methods

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Understanding Your Knuckles

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Expert Interview

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Expert Q&A

Cracking your knuckles is a great way to relieve tension in your fingers, keep your hands busy, or annoy your friend with the gross sound of your fingers snapping. But what’s the best way to do it? Is it actually bad for your joints, or are you all clear to do this whenever you want? In this article, we’ll answer all of those questions and more! Read on to learn everything you’d ever want to know about knuckle cracking.

Things You Should Know

Make a fist with your hand, then clench your other hand around the fist and push. You can also go 1 finger at a time or crack your knuckles by twisting instead.
Interlock your hands and clench them. Then, straighten your fingers and push each knuckle slightly to crack them.
Cracking your knuckles won’t cause arthritis. However, habitual cracking may increase the risk that you lose grip strength in old age.
Wait about 15 minutes between cracks. Knuckles crack because of gas bubbles popping inside the fluid in your joints.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Knuckle Cracking Methods

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Crack all your knuckles by squeezing your fist. Make a fist with your thumb on top. Then, wrap your other hand around your knuckles and squeeze all of your knuckles with the same amount of moderate pressure. You should hear entire rows of knuckles cracking.^{[1]
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- You can also rotate your hand and then push down on your top knuckles, if you’d like to catch any knuckles you missed with the first squeeze.
- You can also just concentrate the pressure on 1-2 fingers. This way, you’ll only crack the section of knuckles where you want relief.
2
Try the old “tough guy” interlocking fingers move. Interlock all of your fingers with your palms facing down. Then, turn your palms down, out and away from you while stretching your arms out in front. Keep your fingers locked together the whole time and keep stretching out until you feel your knuckles crack.
- You’ll see this one in movies whenever some muscular goon is about to lay some whoop down. We don’t know the origin of the trope, but it’s probably the “coolest” way to crack your knuckles!
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3
Hold your fingers out to push on knuckles individually. If you’ve got a specific finger or knuckle you want to pop, hold your fingers out together. Brace your fingers with the palm of your other hand and gently press on the knuckle you want to pop. That force should generate an immediate crack.
- The bottom knuckles should be easiest to crack, but the top knuckles can crack, too.
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Use the praying hands method to crack your lower knuckles. Put your hands together like you're clapping or praying. Your fingers and palms should be touching, mirroring each other. Then, move your palms apart slowly but keep your fingers pressing together. Press them harder and harder together while moving your palms upward until your knuckles crack.
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Try the Vulcan technique to crack individual fingers. Put your pinky and ring finger together. Then, put your middle and index fingers together so there’s a gap between your ring and middle fingers (like a Vulcan from Star Trek). Slide whatever finger you want to crack in between the Vulcan sign and grip the finger gently at its bottom joint. Slowly rock the finger back and forth until it cracks.
- Repeat this process on any of your other fingers to crack them as needed.
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Flex your hands to crack your knuckles without even touching them. You just stiffen your fingers and slowly try to bend them forward; if your knuckles are particularly stiff, this can work. This won’t always work though, just FYI.
- And even fewer people can crack the same finger immediately after they have already popped it. This may not be the case for you, but if you're having problems, consider waiting 5-10 minutes and crack again.
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Crack your thumb by folding it on your palm and pressing on it. Stick your fingers out like you’re waving hello to someone. Then, tuck your thumb against the center of your palm. Apply light pressure to your thumb by pressing the joints into your hand until they crack.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Understanding Your Knuckles

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Learn why your knuckles crack when they bend at an angle. There’s fluid in between every joint in your body called synovial fluid. This fluid lubricates your joints, but pressure can build up in your joints (this is the feeling that makes you want to crack them in the first place). When you crack your knuckles, you’re relieving the gas bubbles inside of the joint.^{[2]
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Know that you probably aren’t raising your risk for arthritis. There’s a popular old wives’ tale out there that cracking your knuckles leads to arthritis. We’ve got good news for you knuckle-cracking fans out there—that doesn’t seem to be the case. There have been a ton of studies on this, and arthritis doesn’t appear to be a risk here.^{[3]
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Be careful about chronic cracking if you want to maintain grip strength. While you aren’t at risk of arthritis, there does seem to be some evidence that habitual knuckle-cracking can lead to a weaker grip over time. The impacts don’t appear to be extreme, and you can get better with moderate treatment, but it’s something to keep in mind.^{[4]
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- If you only crack your knuckles every now and then, you’re probably going be fine.
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Wait for 15 minutes or so between cracks. Once you have cracked your knuckles, it will take some time for the gas bubbles to redevelop in your synovial fluid. This prevents you from cracking them again right away. Don’t repeatedly try to crack your knuckles—you’ll just irritate your joints.^{[5]
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Expert Q&A

Question

Why do I crack my knuckles so much?

Jason Piken
Chiropractor, Certified Nutrition Specialist, & Health Coach
Jason Piken is a Chiropractor, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Health Coach, and Owner of Innate Wellness Group. With over 25 years of experience, Dr. Piken specializes in providing a holistic, whole-body approach to nutrition and wellness. He earned a Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Northeast College of Health Sciences and is certified as a Practitioner of Applied Kinesiology by the International College of Applied Kinesiology. In addition to his nutrition certification, he holds a Therapeutic Lifestyle Certification and a Gonstead Certification.

Jason Piken

Chiropractor, Certified Nutrition Specialist, & Health Coach

Expert Answer

Most people crack their knuckles either because they created a bad habit that they're now used to, their muscles are tight and tense, or their joints are inflamed. People with inflammation issues generally need to stretch, gain more strength, and eat better, because that will lower inflammation in the joints. Plus, you'll be healthier if you have a healthy gut.
Question

Why does it hurt when I try?

Community Answer

It sometimes can take time and practice to crack your fingers or any part of your body without it hurting. It tends to hurt more if you tighten the joints and muscles around the part you are cracking. Resolve this problem by holding your hand in the positions as stated above in the article and then wait until you are relaxed before applying pressure or force.
Question

Why is it that when I fold then squeeze my fingers, it feels like my bones are gonna break?

Community Answer

This is probably due to the amount of pressure you are putting on the joint. If you are pushing this hard and still have no result, then you will probably want to stop and reconsider if cracking your knuckles is worth the amount of force it is taking in your particular situation.