Doctor finally busts myth on whether cracking knuckles is actually bad for you
Most of us crack our knuckles on a semi-regular basis - or at the very least feel the urge to.
This is despite the fact that the practice is allegedly bad for you, but now one doctor has taken to TikTok to put this myth to bed for good.
Dr Faran, who goes by @madmedicine on TikTok, began the now-viral video with footage of a woman cracking 'every joint in her body'.
Advert
"A lot of people think that cracking your knuckles is going to lead to arthritis but that's actually not true," he said.
"When you crack your knuckles you're actually popping the bubbles that are formed in your joints in your synovial fluid."
What's the synovial fluid? We hear you ask. Well, it's the fluid that acts as a lubricant for our joints and allows them to move with ease.
The doctor then said that even if you don't believe him, you should believe the study carried out by a man named Dr David Onger.
He said: "Dr David Onger actually cracked the knuckles on his right hand ONLY, for 60 years and then compared them to his left hand.
"He found that there were no changes in his joints."
Dr Faran's assertion is backed up by AARP, who recently debunked several common health myths.
Howard Luks, an orthopaedic surgeon and author of Longevity … Simplified, explained: "Cracking your knuckles will not cause arthritis."
He attests that as long as it's simply something that you do sporadically - and gently - then you won't be causing yourself any harm.
"Our knuckles make that sound because of negative pressure within our joint, which causes a popping when the lubricating fluid - synovial fluid - produces pockets of bubbles," Luks said, echoing Dr Faran's words.
As you can imagine, the revelation went far from unnoticed on TikTok and the video has been liked over 1.5 million times.
Reacting to the news, one TikTok user wrote: "He dedicated 60 years of his life for that... props to my bro."
"Not me cracking my knuckles with joy after watching this," added a second while a third shared: "I was always told my knuckles would get BIGGER."
"The pure self-control it would take to only crack one hand," remarked a fourth. "I'd break a finger if one thumb popped and the other didn't."
"We didn't ask for a hero but we got one," added a fifth, presumably in reference to Dr Onger.
Topics: Health
Emma Guinness