I’ve got my fair share of unconscious habits: running my hands through my hair, tapping my feet, pursing my lips when I’m concentrating—and, of course, cracking my knuckles. That last one is perhaps ...

An age-old urban legend that claims cracking one’s knuckles will lead to arthritis may be old in every middle school child’s repertoire, but a look at the scientific literature finds that there is ...

Cracking your knuckles might feel satisfying, but it often earns disapproving looks or even dire warnings. For decades, people have believed that this seemingly harmless habit could lead to arthritis ...

Whether you love it or hate it, cracking knuckles is a common habit we've likely all done at some point. It's one of life's simple pleasures for some people, who crave the satisfying "pop" and ...

I was seven years old when I first saw someone with severe rheumatoid arthritis. I had just met one of my grandmother’s cousins, whose swollen joints and gnarled fingers fascinated and terrified me. I ...

Hearing “snap, crackle, pop!” with no visible sign of the Rice Krispie trio can only mean one thing: snapping joints—likely knuckle cracking, to be more specific. Whether or not the sensation happens ...

There hasn’t been a lot of research on the effects of knuckle cracking, but the limited evidence shows it doesn’t harm your joints. One review in the Swiss Medical Journal found no evidence in any of ...

This article was medically reviewed by M. Elaine Husni, MD, MPH, of the rheumatologic and immunologic disease department at Cleveland Clinic. I’ve got my fair share of unconscious habits: running my ...