I have been cracking my knuckles ever since I was seven years old, when my brother taught me how to push down on my forefinger and my knuckle suddenly made a popping noise. I have been hooked ever since. What has been worrisome almost from the beginning is what will this do to me in the long run? I have asked various people who I think could give me a viable answer, and have not yet received one. I wonder why that is.

You hear people say that their doctors told them to not worry because the popping sound is only air that is naturally trapped in the joint and that as you “crack” your knuckle, you are only releasing that air, so it is not doing any actual damage, but I wonder still. I have also heard that it can lead to arthritis and would want to in no way discredit that or disregard it. I would rather anticipate that it does cause damage then not, so that I don’t find out later that it does cause damage but that I’m too late to start fixing it.

What I do know is that, other than my brother, I am the only one in my family who has been cracking my joints religiously any chance I get. Call it a nervous habit, but with some serious potential consequences. All I know is that my sisters’ knuckles aren’t half as large and knobby as mine are, and we are all very close in age, and I feel such stiffness in my joints that I am compelled to crack them again! Thus exacerbating an already worrisome condition. What I’d like to know is what is the latest theory on this subject and whose opinion is worth trusting?