It’s high time to crack down on those bad habits

By Dede McKelvySpecial to The Millerton NewsIf you’re a teenager like me, chances are you crack your knuckles or know someone who does.The loud popping sound produced by pressing down on your fingers has probably caused your parents to repeatedly tell you to stop this (bad) habit “because you’re going to develop arthritis.”After many years of denying my parents’ recommendation, for the health of my own joints and those of our readers, I decided to look on the Internet for the truth.First of all, here’s one good thing to know: What exactly is a knuckle? Knuckles are the joints that connect the bones in your fingers. They allow each bone to move collectively within the whole of your hand. Another thing that’s helpful to know: When you crack your knuckles, you’re creating space in between the joints in your fingers. This stretches out a capsule in there that contains something called synovial fluid. When you crack your joint, you decrease the pressure within the knuckle and that creates a sort of “vacuum” that pulls in nitrogen gas. This in turn creates a bubble of air that bursts, producing the popping or cracking sound. I learned all this fromDimitrios Pappas, a rheumatology expert at the Johns Hopkins University Arthritis Center.According to him (Mom and Dad, are you listening?) cracking your knuckles has no serious side effects. As a habitual knuckle cracker myself, I was relieved to find out that my habit would not cause arthritis later in life. However, as much as I hate to admit, there have been some case studies that found that knuckle cracking can damage the ligaments surrounding the joint or lead to the dislocation of tendons. One study even said that, over time, some habitual knuckle crackers lose their ability to firmly grip things.So if you are a knuckle cracker like me, I guess we should start to crack down on our bad habit and we probably should listen to our parents’ advice.