I actually cannot crack my knuckles sadly.  Sometimes I wonder if I even have knuckles . It's a bit sad since I always wanted to try it out , at least I can snap, and crack my toes .

I have never cracked my knuckles and can't even begin to understand how people do it. I mean, I know it's physically possible, but what's the allure?  It's only very bad for your joints, and it sounds awful.  My ankles crack involuntarily and it drives everyone nuts. Why would you INTENTIONALLY crack some part of your body?  It's basically bone hitting bone or cartilage and... just.. ew. No. Absolutely not.

I command all of you knuckled crackers to stop it now.

Singelli : It actually depends on how you crack it, I've had no formal training but I have a very good understanding of the human body. (I've also been training unorthodox Martial Arts but that's besides the point.) Sometimes cracking your knuckles or any part of your body is actually re aligning dislocated joints that have either been damaged out of place or the muscles that hold them in place have atrophied causing your muscles to fall out of place and become rather... Odd looking if your eye is trained to look for such things. So while yes some bone cracking is actually rather damaging some can be incredibly beneficial to your body and it's well being.

To answer the threads question yes, I do crack my knuckles as well as several other joints such as my elbows, Knees, Hips, Ankles, Toes, Fingers, Wrists, Neck and even my shoulders. (That last one is because I have horribly damaged shoulders which dislocated by themselves on a regular basis and I have to re-position it and it can actually be quite painful and even damaging if I do it wrong.) Cracking your joints can be extremely damaging depending on how you do it and I wouldn't recommend it unless you know what you're doing and actually pay attention to the signs your body gives you.

I kind of do now, not as much as I used to though, I don't think it is good for you and I only do it randomly. I don't know why buy before I use to do it for everything. I only crack my knuckles, I don't know how to crack anything else, some people crack their knees their neck and a whole bunch of other parts of their body but I only crack my knuckles and sometimes occasionally my ribs. But that is about it, so yeah sometimes I still do it, but not as much as I use to a few years ago. 

Frodlex : Well I will admit to something I wasn't even thinking about in my last post. I crack my back intentionally, a LOT. I sometimes wonder if I have a bad back, because it will feel odd or.. 'off' or sometimes even hurt. I'll have to twist and crack it, or bend backwards over a chair edge and crack it.  I'm sure it's not good for me since I'm not doing it in a 'trained' manner.

I used to do it actively, but now, not so much. I just naturally let go of it. I've learned of things that may happen if I actively do it, and it isn't pretty.

I may crack a few body parts by accident once in a while, but that's about all.

I do it a lot, sometimes without even thinking it. I can actually crack my knuckles just by making a fist, which gets a bit annoying. I tried to stop, but I couldn't do it, after going 1 day without cracking them my hands felt really weird. I just gave in to it, as there is no downside of cracking them, besides them hurting a bit if I crack them a lot.I also do it on my neck and feet if I haven't move them in a while.

I do that if I have a muscle cramp.

Singelli : That feeling you get when cracking your back, is the feeling some get when cracking anything, including knuckles. That might help you understand why people do it.

No I do not. It is not because of being scared it will damage my hand but more because I can not actually do it. It want to be able to strangely enough, it is intimidating in a way and I could frighten my friends because I am such a nice person. 
I may not be able to do that but I can actually make a clicking sound by jerking my wrist (Not That I Jerk My Wrist Often!!!). I can make the sound while making the hand gun action with my hand so in a way it sounds like my hand it actually firing out something!!

MechaMento :
Singelli :  
goodboy :

Just to relieve your concerns, the whole thing about it being bad for your joints or causing arthritis is false. There has never actually been a study that has linked bad bones or joint conditions to popping your joints. It is an old wive's tale.

Singelli, as for your 'bone hitting bone/cartilage", that is actually not what it is Between all of your joints are 'bags' of synovial fluid. It is basically a joint cushion so your bones don't grind against each other. When you have periods where you aren't moving certain joints, little gas bubbles form in that fluid. So the popping you are hearing is just the sound of that air being released by being squeezed out. It is just like bubble wrap, in a way, only you aren't actually bursting open anything, so it is safe. The only time it is bone hitting bone is if it is actually happening from locked or loose joints. But that popping is usually painful, so you know that is bad for you. 

Yup. In fact I just did it!
My mom hates it though, she always yells at me when I do it, and also many people think it's really scary o____O
I do it when I'm stressed, angry or times like these, when I set my mind to win the Tour De Vizzed Blue Jersey ^w^

I crack my knuckles all the time especially once I learned it releases happy chemicals in your brain that and it sounds cool. I'm probably going to have arthritis when I'm older but you win some you lose some and you always learn some

Yes I do. I do it especially to annoy my mom haha. At first it was hard to do, but after a while, it has just become a habit and it is really easy to pop them now. My mom always says that I will get arthritis from it but you really don't. 

I cant.

rcarter2 :

*types a long post*
*loses it when the net cuts out* AGGGGHHHH!

Okay... so let's see if I can remember what I started to tell you. XD
oh, that was it!  So, I already knew about the synovial fluids in the joints thanks to my creaking ankles thread. I'm not going to go back and compare the dates, but I even think I was informed about the fluids before I made the post here..... so I'm not quite sure why I didn't put two and two together.  That being said, I STILL can't stand the sound.... even if it's not harmful, it sure SOUNDS harmful!  It's kinda like fingernails on a chalkboard!  (Or as my kids might say:  "Bro.. chill two times!")

And also,
Light Knight :
Thank you SO much for putting it in that perspective for me!  I guess I mainly view people as cracking their knuckles just for show, so it never occurred to me that discomfort might often spur it.  Thinking about the way my back feels and comparing it to how others might feel about various joints really helped me step back a bit on my 'judgment'.  Totally awesome... you should so be a teacher!

Oh, er... wait a moment.... 
XD

Nope. It feels and sounds too weird. I feel like I am going to brake my fingers when I do it.

Singelli : Oh, I can understand that. Though the sound of popping joints doesn't bug me, some do. Long nails scratching jeans hurts my ears a brain. My wife doesn't get it and tortures me with it sometimes.

I crack my knuckles as a nervous habit or when I can't help but have to pop them.