Do you like to crack your fingers? I just adore it. By the way, not only them. Often after working at the computer, I get up and crunch my neck and vertebrae on my back. Now the question is: did I ditch my back and what kind of disease is waiting for me?

By science!

None. Most likely, people around you often pointed out to you (I'm from Russia, I do not know how you do) for this divine action. To me here speak about an arthritis. But I was not going to just give up this lesson and decided to look for data on this topic. Here, for example, that writes J Castellanos and D Axelrod:

The relation of habitual knuckle cracking to osteoarthrosis with functional impairment of the hand has long been considered an old wives' tale without experimental support. The mechanical sequelae of knuckle cracking have been shown to produce the rapid release of energy in the form of sudden vibratory energy, much like the forces responsible for the destruction of hydraulic blades and ship propellers. 

For their research, they took 300 people of different sexes and ages, some of them crunched their fingers, and some did not. In the end, there was no difference. All the damage to them was due to biting nails, manual labor or alcohol.

Cause

I used to think that the crunch is due to the friction between the bones. However, when I was studying the articles, I learned that the reason is the tearing of gas bubbles between the bones. This is painlessness. You can be sure that the arthritis that awaits you in old age is not from knuckle-cracking. Crunch on health!

Neck, back ...

Good. But what about the neck and back? The fact is that in these places it is better not to crackle. The vertebrae are very thin and can break. Yes, and the bone marrow is near. Therefore, I strongly advise you to limit yourself only to your fingers!

Links:

http://ard.bmj.com/content/49/5/308

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