Gerrard Kaonga
Social media users have had one of humanities most puzzling questions answered; what happens when you crack your knuckles?
When growing up, friends, parents and teachers would often tell children things that didn’t quite turn out to be true.
Eating carrots will let you see in the dark, swallowing fruit seeds meant there was a chance it could grow inside you, the list goes on.
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One notorious myth was that cracking your knuckles would mean you would get arthritis when you were older.
Well, a video, that has been circulating on Reddit, has seemingly debunked this myth and explained what exactly happens when you hear that satisfying pop after cracking your fingers and knuckles.
The video, shared on the damnthatsinteresting board, was from a Vox YouTube short.
“So there is a lubricant like substance that is found in between your joints and it is called Synovial fluid,” the narrator said as they showed a knuckles being cracked while in an MRI machine.
“It contains dissolved gasses, mostly CO2. Those gasses form into bubbles when you create a pressure change by yanking on your finger and then right away those bubbles partially collapse, causing the sound we all know and hate.
“You have to wait about 20 minutes for the remaining bubbles to dissolve before you can crack your knuckles again.
“This is different from the pop you hear when you stand up quickly. That sound is most likely from the tendons snapping when they slide over bones.
"So is a knuckle cracking habit safe? Probably, Donald Unger was a doctor who decided to pop the joints in one of his hands for 60 years to find out if it would give him arthritis.
“It didn’t and that has been confirmed by other studies. So it doesn’t seem like knuckle cracking is harming you, it is just harming the people who can hear you.”
Social media users rejoiced at the news, knowing their childhood habits hadn’t indefinitely condemned them.
“Thank God it’s not doing damage… I'd be screwed,” wrote one user.
“Popping my toes is my favorite thing to do. After watching this I was compelled to crack everything lol,” added another.
“Good to know, I do this daily!! Carry on,” commented someone else.
“Cool. Now I can crack my knuckles, wrists, neck, shoulders, upper back, pelvis, knees, ankles, and toes in peace,” a Reddit user penned.
Although cracking your knuckles is pretty harmless, it could potentially cause damage if - like anything - it's done incorrectly or way too frequently.