How Harmful Is It to "Pop" Your Knuckles? 

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When I was young my mother wanteed to make me do a 2000 word essay on why popping joints was bad because she got so annoyed by me doing it. I ended up doing a mountain of research and looking for every possible article I could and 90 percent of them said that if there is any sort of joint damage that it's almost inconclusive. There were several that actually showed that popping joints was beneficial to preventing arthritis. Then when I did my article and provided all my research my mother got super mad at me for not listening to what she said and grounded me for a month

To summarize, popping your knuckles isn't bad. But the way you do it might be bad for other reasons.

*Sees thumbnail* *Pops knuckles* “Alright, let’s see what this video’s about.”

My dad taught my sisters and I how to crack our knuckles from the time when we were toddlers. Were told by others about impending arthritis. Now I'm 71 years old and still no arthritis in our fingers! 😜

Popped my knuckles before starting 😬

I can pop/crack virtually every joint ever since I was in my mid teens. It just started happening for no apparent reason. Fingers, wrists, elbows, shoulders, neck, back, hips, knees, ankles, big toes. Sometimes if I don't pop, a joint feels stuck. Doctors told me not to worry. And a few decades later I'm still fine. 🙂

I'm a massage therapist, and I get asked this question all the time. This video is satisfying for its clarity and research. I love the point about cavitation! Thank you! ❤

glad you’re clearing up some misinformation, I already have arthritis and hyper-mobility genetically, regardless if I crack my knuckles or joints lol. I like that you mentioned that the *way* you crack or pop joints is important, i’d love to see a video explaining that even more :)

Now I’m wondering what that uncomfortable sensation is that makes us pop our joints and what causes it and how the popping eliviates that.

I find this so interesting. I'm an engineer that mostly works on pumps, and I deal with cavitation damage quite a bit. I can see why the initial assumption was that (1) the sound was caused by the bubble collapse and (2) that it was damaging - because that's exactly what happens in my world. The implosion of the bubble is energetic enough to damage the surface nearby the collapse. It makes so much more sense when you showed the MRI photo. If the bubble pops slowly enough, like dissipating over time, there's no cavitation damage. In a pump obviously the bubble implodes much faster. The properties of the synovial fluid are probably the key here. I'm also a joint popper myself so... This is somewhat good to hear I guess!!

Ah! What a relief knowing this won't damage unlike we always had heard it. In fact I never stopped popping knuckles even when I knew (which is now a myth after watching this video). But I want to put a bad experience here to be safe when you do it. Hope to learn from you guys about such an experience. First thing, I have been popping knuckles since my childhood whether it be hands or feet. It's just a habit and I can't help stop doing it and I figure everyone here will know why. Never it caused any issue but once I was sitting and took the thumb of my right-foot in hand, pulled it and bent it down like I always did. This time it didn't pop while I was feeling it should. I just used more force and it was like I have broken the nerve with an instant pain from the middle top to the thumb where I pulled. Sooner after the instant pain, that area just went in numbness mode. I would feel this numbness when I press the skin on middle top and move towards the thumb. Thankfully it didn't damage anything else or any kind of function of the thumb or the foot. I could do all movements without any issue but that numb tissue never went away. May be it's still there or I am used to it after several years but I can now still pop that thumb that after damage I couldn't for months. Lesson learnt, never pull it beyond. If it didn't pop, leave it try later. But never pull it to extreme. It's not only the joint, there is a lot other things around the joint that can get damaged.

One of the things that I really appreciate about your videos is that you put the advertisement at the end. I find your videos quite enlightening and I hate when the adds are in the middle. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I've always wondered about this, thanks for the explanation! I'd love to see a video about back popping/ cracking.

You’re a hero. I’ve been waiting for this information for decades. Thank you.

Thank you very much for this. My son has some form of ADHD and his new obsession is popping his fingers. We try to stop him from doing it but now thanks to your video I think it’s a fight not worth fighting. Thank you again.

Can you make a video on why it feels good or relieving to crack/pop your joints? It would be awesome and informative! Thank you! Great content as always!

Having a human body myself, I enjoy learning about it. I have abused mine, yet it still continues to serve me. I have broken several of the bones. I have allowed the sun to damage some of the skin covering my body. I have accidently cut, abraded, torn, burned and even froze parts of the skin. I even poked hundreds of tiny holes, then filled them with ink to form a tattoo on my skin. I poked holes in my earlobes to insert bits of metals. For many years I intentionally filled my lungs with smoke from cigarettes, cigars and a pipe thinking I was enjoying it. I have poured harmful chemicals, liquids and solids into this body in the name of pleasure. I have pushed this body to it's limits, then pushed it even a bit more. For seventy five years so far, it has put up with the tortures as well as enjoyed some of the pleasures of life. and it continues to function. But, like everything else on the planet does, this body has begun to show signs of wear and aging. I know someday, some of the parts will give up and no longer function and life will cease. Until that time, I will do what i can to maintain, nourish and enjoy this amazing thing called the human body.

This channel is a favorite of mine. Very detailed and i learn a lot.

"is that bad for you? The short answer is actually NO-" *starts popping every single knuckle aggressively *

I think your theory on position to pop joints is true. Personally, I would pop my knees when I was younger (about 15 or so), my left knee would pop if I just quickly locked my knees, but I had to twist my right knee to pop it. My right knee now feels "lose" sometimes. I have to consciously flex my leg muscles so it doesn't feel that way when I mswingong my leg forward when walking. I'm sure I stretched something that wasn't supposed to be stretched when I did that.

I would like to hear more about the physiology of the cracking of joints in the back (such as in chiropractics). This has always puzzled me since the main joints in the back are bot synovial. Are the joints that pop in the back and neck the smaller synovial joints as well? Or is it a different kind of pop?

I just have to say the education on this channel is just wonderful!! Also the skills of the people working on the cadavers is top notch. I don’t think people appreciate the time and effort that goes into it.

Ahh thank you!! I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome so my joints popping is an hourly occurrence that I can't avoid. I'd really appreciate some videos going more in depth on the nuances so I can safely pop things without causing myself any further complications

This is so interesting to me because I've been somewhat compulsively crunching my knuckles since childhood and I'd always hear people tell me I was going to get arthritis from that 😂

Thank you so much for explaining this. I have asked many chiropractors and doctors and physical therapists what actually happens when I pop my knuckles, but none of them had answers that made sense, or they just said I should stop doing that.

Hi, I’m in the process of watching the IofHA’s video on how caffeine affects the body, but thought I would jump on a newer video immediately the hopes my special request might be seen. Can you please do a video on how Kratom affects the body and brain? Thank you, and thank you for your marvelous education. I really appreciate the practicality of them, and how you make your anatomy presentations understandable to lay persons like myself, but also sophisticated enough to where I’m able to use your content as a reliable primary source. They’re very useful when I use the information you present as a guide to get lost on the web when doing further research and exploration on the facts, concepts, and processes you describe. Nice work!

Love this channel@! Awesomeness! Makes me feel like I’m back in A&P class!

Thank you for clearing my doubts ❤❤🔥

I've learned involving your back muscles and your spine alignment it's quite easy to place your arms overhead by hanging from something an inch or so above the ground and letting your muscles themselves relax to stretch the tension from the muscles while your spine naturally decompresses to realign itself. But this seems to be the least painful for myself so take it with a grain of salt

i didnt find this channel until after i passed my anatomy classes but this has kept me interested!

im waited for this video thanks for making this

10/10 for the bubble sound effect I always cut my knuckles and my toes and my neck and sometimes even my back but that is very rare, haven't had any problems as a matter of fact when I crack my knuckles or toes it seems to at least in my mind help or increase or improve my circulation overall

I'm 68 and have been doing this for the last 53 years AT LEAST. I have no discernable problems after cracking my knuckles all that time. My kneecaps crack when I stand up, my elbows crack when I straighten my arm, my neck alsô cracked especially when I was younger.

Thanks a lot for correcting the pre conception.

Those who popping knuckles while watching 👇

It actually helps my arthritic joints feel better. There have been times that I've had a joint not want to budge, then 'pop'.. all better.

I'd like to know more about the pressure buildup prior to; aka the stiffness that creates the desire to "pop" a joint. For me, it's especially bad around the upper neck. I'd also be curious about the release of pressure/stiffness afterwards.

Good to hear/learn. I sometimes pop my knuckles and this provides relief, but of course I don't need to do this often ; only once in a while. When I was young I heard that popping our knuckle joints was not good, but I did it anyway, once in a good while, and it seemed to help.

That explanation was so helpful! 🎉

Could an increase in the ability to crack a joint be an indicator that your body is producing a lot more synovial fluid due to an abnormal amount of friction in the joint?

Love your videos! I was an ICU nurse for 35 years and it’s very cool to see what was going on inside the cases I treated from the outside. Can you do a video about “trigger finger?”

I love watching this channel. Johnathan and Justin explains so simplified that it's fun. There's so much that we learn about our anatomy and we aren't even medical students. I popped my knuckles before pressing play on the video 😁😅 Maybe Institute of Human Anatomy can do a video on how reverse psychology works on the brain. If I'm not mistaken, I recall reading long ago that there's synovial fluid/ joint in the spine as well

Good video. Thanks for the info

6:57 This is a warning for those visiting the chiropractor's office for joint manipulation too regularly.

If I'm not mistaken there was a man who was testing to see the effects popping your knuckles would have. He was doing it for years only on one hand to see what happened over time. Might be interesting to look into regarding where he got on that self study.

Thanks for the information.. much needed 👍🙂

Nice information! Thank you

Would you ever consider doing a video on TMJ/TMD? I suffer from it chronically and it apparently affects most of the population at some point but there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of info out there. Thanks!

This is good info. My granddaughter pops her knuckles. I feel a little better knowing she's not hurting herself.

Hi! I have hyper mobility since i was born, I can pop a lot of joints with a lot of ease, sometimes i need to do it to feel some relief, could you do a video explaining what it really means to have hyper mobility and what does that means to the body in the future? Amazing video!

I really like how you explain anatomy

I used to run years ago and my left hip joint would hurt at the beginning of my runs but once it popped it quit hurting and I was fine..run 40 miles a week and it did it every day at the beginning of my runs. 😮

I’ve been cracking my knuckles since I was 8 or 9. 20 yrs later, I realize it’s an anxious/ self soothing habit for me. But over the years, I’ve found ways to crack uncommon things, such as the metatarsal joints in my feet, my sternum, my jaw, the bridge of my nose, and most recently learned: my earlobes (I think it has something to do with opening up the eustachian tube, as it tends to drain my sinuses).

Really Informative.

Great video. Thank you

I'm surprised you didn't cite the study of the man who only popped his knuckles on one hand and purposefully ignored the other hand... for decades!

I literally had to pop everything in my body while watching this lmao

This was one of the most difficult things I had to watch in a very long time and I love horror movies simply because popping joints freak me out lmao so happy to have this knowledge! Thank you!

You're really dramatic/demonstrative. Thought I was watching a cartoon at some point. I love it 😂 thanks 👍

I would love to hear your breakdown and explanation of this sound occurring in the knee(s). For my whole life (from my earliest awareness of this until present age of 67) my knees have popped when I sit into a full squat (down as low as I can go - sitting on my heals as it were), and it will do it repeatedly until I stop doing this movement. I have always attributed this to a rolling of the tendons around both knees as opposed to it being gasses in the joints (as you stated reabsorbing the gasses to 'pop' again takes time). I am not a runner, so it can't be blamed on that physical activity. Your explanation would be interesting in the least. Thanks again for all the great videos!

Been wondering about this. Popped my knuckles the way you said your Sister does and ended up passing out. I get numbness down my arm, around my carpal tunnel. I quit popping them like that and it hasn't happened since. It usually would be caused from an abnormally loud pop. Same location where that fluid would reside though.

Thanks for the info

Hi there sir, have my salutations. I just subbed with activating the bell as i noticed theres no newer video. Please release the video on the act of chyropractics and these popping sounds in the back and the neck

So now I’m wondering how does it really look like for people who have hypermobile joints not caused by traumatic injuries or forced abnormal positions like you described but rather people who have connective tissue disorders of some sort. I’m talking about a situation where most body joints are prone to hyperextension and subluxations by a default. Individuals in this group (me included, that’s why I brought up this topic) seem to experience cracking and popping relatively more frequently than others. Is it just the bigger range of motion that makes the bubble formation more apparent? 🤔

Was curious how popping knuckles relates to early onset of gout. This was informative though, as I do pop fingers about once a week or every few weeks.

Thank you for this video. I also have the same issue with one of my elbows where it pops whenever I straighten it. For me, this happened while I was practicing jabs. At first, the technique used would just cause my elbow to hurt. Later on, it no longer hurt, but my elbows started popping. Eventually, it popped just by straightening it

Loved it thanks!

I've been popping my knuckles and every joint from my shoulders, elbows, and each finger join since I was a kid. I spend upwards of 10 hours straight drawing or writing with few breaks. I've been like this all my life. I'm 39 so far and can safely report that I have never experienced any joint discomfort in ant of these points even after a 10 hour shift of drawing a highly detailed 11x14 or 18x24 art piece. I also cut stone and marble. The only thing that ever hurt my hands was using a portable jackhammer or rolling air out of a fresh block of clay.

My anecdote experience is that knuckle cracking over a period of years has caused my knuckles to enlarge, and that the enlargement stopped when I stopped cracking.

2 questions: 1) Someone said it below, but, what is the pressure build-up sensation we get when we don't pop our knuckles or joints and why do we get that? 2) can you show ways or positions to pop our knuckles or joints that are not harmful/hyperextending?

That's crazy I have the same exact elbow thing! I've never seen anyone else that can do that. I remember it starting the way you described too, where you push against it with your other hand

I think we need a proper class as to why it feels soooo good to move your back in all its axis of movement when you wake up. And I should stop doing because it relaxes me and makes me wanna go to bed again.

I definitely crack my knuckles but love cracking my back even more 😅

Can’t wait for the back popping video!! 😁

I think my phone heard me popping everything and decided I should learn! Great video lol

I wanted to know about this for long, now I know. Thanks for that. But I also want to know what to do with the urge to pop. Sometimes I feel an urge to pop my elbows and my toes. Also when I walk sometimes there is a popping sound either in my toe or in feet. Can you explain why that happens?

I asked my chiropractor about popping, and he said that: • popping doesn't cause arthritis • overstretching can make arthritis hurt more • the safest way to do a pop is by _lightly_ pulling on the joint • if a joint doesn't wanna pop with mild effort, then don't force it

I always thought that the cracking noise was from bubbles being released, so that's interesting to hear that it's actually from the gas bubbles forming that causes the crack. That makes a lot more sense for my case. Because I (for as long as I can remember as a kid) am able to crack my knuckles (or rather it happens at the fingers) back to back without much effort. But I still wonder how my joints are able to do that or perhaps it is from ligaments or the joints themselves rubbing against each other. However I never feel any pain or discomfort from doing it over and over again. It does make for a cool party gag that freaks out my friends though lol

Love this channel

Is there a difference between bending the joints vs. pulling the joint apart? Think about your fingers; you can bend them to crack but if that doesn't work you can pull on them essentially pulling the bones further away to make them crack. Does this have a negative impact on the joint?

what is the uncomfortable feeling that makes me want to crack my joints? it kinda feels like something is gradually shifting out of place and popping it back into place provides some relief and a feeling of restored mobility. that sounds worse than it feels but i dont know how else to describe it. it could just be in my head too

This was so interesting. please do a video for "popping" the back 🙏

It was already getting somewhat comical but then you mentioned popping the spine and I had to laugh, video funnier than intended. 😂😂

Can you do a video about manipulations? Always wanted to know what chiropractors really do with those cracks!

Like for the spine 'pop' sound

Thanks for sharing

Thanks to the person who gave their arm for this educational video

9 minutes to just say it's not harmful? damn

I totally popped my knuckles why watching this lesson. Lol. Love your videos, keeps my medically trained brain working right.

Liked the video, please do one about Allergies. I have them and I would like your kind of explanation about it. Thank you.

thank you 🙏 it's very tiring for everyone I know to tell me "popping joints will give you arthritis" despite me showing proof that there's no real connection. I pop my knuckles out of anxiety, can also pop my toes. recently I started popping my wrist and it actually helps a lot because with me being an artist, it's normal for my wrist to get very tight but now that I can pop it, it helps relieve that and loosen it up.

Could be damaging, but isn't it just stretching? And the resulting hypermobility just means you eventually became more flexible because of the stretching?

ppl who popped their knuckles at least once while watching the video !! leave a like

Great info

I used to crack my knuckles in the closed fist position a lot. I had to have an A1 pulley release a couple years ago due to trigger finger. I don't know if it's related or not but thought it was interesting to mention.

I pull on my fi gers to pop the knuckles to relieve the pain of pressure. Been doing this since I was a younger child. Now 72 and still no sign of arthritis

It may not be harmful but, it still makes my skin crawl.

I would love to see a video on chiropractic and adjustments.

Can you to a video on the sternum and what happens when you "crack" your sternum? It has the same mechanics as popping a synovial joint, but it comes with *significant* pain relief.