Popping joints

[Adora]

Oohhkay. I'm one of those people who pops their joints a lot. And I'm not just talking about regular knuckle-cracking. I mean almost every joint in my body. When I wake up from a really good night's sleep, it basically sounds like someone jumping on bubble wrap, from my jaw to my back to my elbows to my hips (I especially like doing my hips) to my big toes. I've been told by my physio this is because I am flexible, but my muscle health isn't as good as it used to be (at least, when I was a lil kiddy and played lots of netball n shit) so my joints regularly shift slightly, and so when they come back into place they pop (because of the gas release). I don't know how true this is of course, because I've been told bullshit by physios before. Also because of my wonderful student-lifestyle and bodyshape, I get it a lot in my back and neck, and get to freak people out by popping it in front of them in classes (heh heh heh). This isn't just a sadistic thrill though. With my back and neck, I get awful muscle and nerve pain if I sit in the one spot for too long and don't pop my back. It's not as bad as it used to be in high school though, because I'm not as stressed as I was then, I'm much healthier, I don't carry schoolbags and am no longer sitting in horribly un-ergonomic desks/seats, and my neck and back are generally stronger than they were then from excercises and such.

However, from what I know of joint-cracking/popping, this may not be a good thing. From what I have heard and read, the athritus-connection thing is crap. However, one study found that people who crack their knuckles on one hand and not the other have only 1/4 of the strength in the cracked-hand as normal, or their other hand. I don't know exactly what the connection is or who it was done by (because I was only half-listening to Dr Karl's radio show) but I'm just wondering if any of your medico-types have read anything about this phenomenom and its possible side-effects.

[Dingfod]

Here's something (http://fibromyalgia.ncf.ca/nyejoint.htm) from a Dr. Nye, MD. AFAIK, no harm comes from popping joints, but often the perceived need to pop them sometimes comes from the irritation of arthritis or damaged joints.

I've got TMJ, my jaw pops regularly, sometimes painfully. That's not the gas escaping the joint fluids then, that's probably tendon damage or bone-to-bone contact.

[godfry n. glad]

Wow.

Hey, thanks, Warn. I'd always wondered about that. I can crack my hands and feet and one side of my neck on my own, but my chiropractor can elicit reports that sound like gunshots.

godfry

[dave_a]

First special brownies and now popping joints.

Something is going on down under.

So given your flexibility and all I am curious, can you tuck your legs behind your head?

[paris hilton]that's hot.[/paris hilton]

[Adora]

Ysk, no sorry Dan. I can kinda get my right leg fairly far up, because it's slightly longer than the other, but no, not around the back of my head. Most of my flexibility is in my torso, because that's where all my height is. Though my jaw has only started popping recently I think probably because of my impacted wisdom teeth (that I am constantly procrastinating about having pulled cos dentists=evil fuckers).

I've never had arthritus or seriously damaged the joints in most of my body. In fact, the ones I damaged the most as a kid (ankles are the greatest victims of netball) I rarely pop at all. There's a high probability of me developing arthritus in the hands though, through basic genetic inheritence (same thing with Old-Age diabetes).

Something is going on down under.
It's summer. Hehehehehe. The heat does weird things to everyone.

[LianaLi]

From my experience, we've concluded that popping joints is a natural consequence of an active life and increased flexibility. I do martial arts, and it used to scare my students quite a bit when I did warm ups, and popped every time I did a knee bend. I find that my joints pop more when I haven't warmed up properly. And it seems that every single one of us that are really active has joints that pop.

For myself, more of my joints pop because I am active. It went from just cracking my knuckles because I'm such an active crafter, to knees, hips, elbows, and shoulders. And my back, to an extent. My joints pop more when I try to work out without stretching. Like the example I stated earlier, my knees pop outrageously when I do kneebends without warming up. Every time I'd count, they'd pop as I moved. Startled the students closest to me, because they could hear it too. Also, my left hip will pop when I throw high kicks, if I haven't warmed up. Same with the shoulders. My elbows pop... but then I have elbows that naturally hyper extend.

Before I started martial arts, my joints didn't pop like this. I played soccer in high school, and they defintely didn't do this. Of course, soccer also didn't stretch my flexibility as much as martial arts does. I admit, as a small girl, I play up the flexibiity, because it's something nice to have to scare the guys either by being able to kick a six foot tall guy in the head, or because I can drop into front splits cold. I've noticed though, that increased flexibility doesn't neccessarily mean popping joints, just increased activity, because people who are less flexible than I am, who still get joints that pop alot.

-Liana

[JoeP]

dentists=evil fuckers :yup:

I so thought this thread was going to be about something else (insert pills and smoking into title).

If your joints start smoking you should worry. But I don't think the pops themselves are serious. I've been popping my knuckles since I was your age and my hands are fine - whereas the people who say "ooh, that makes me feel squeamish, don't do that, you'll get arthritis" are the ones who are getting arthritis despite not cracking their knuckles.

My neck vertebrae crack now, but that's tension related, I don't take it as a sign of impending spondylitis.

joe