Experts self-cracked their hands for 60 consecutive years just to prove a little thing

Since he was a young man, Unger has been reminded by his mother about the possibility of arthritis. Starting from there, he came up with the idea: Unger only cracked one side of his left hand and did it every day while leaving his right hand.

Sometimes feeling tired or tense, you often twist and hear. Some people also have a habit of sneaking at their hands, which seems to just be 'fun'.

But there is a perception that such a breakdown can cause evidence. Is that true? Are 'snooping' sounds and sometimes 'cracks' harmful to your joints?

Is the sound of snooping or cracking when it is broken?

The source of the snoopers

There are 2 feelings that people will meet, after the whooping sounds of the joints resound: Either you will be more relaxed, or you will feel pain. If you suffer from pain, it is better to see a doctor to check. Otherwise, there are almost no harms on the shoulders, neck or back.

Why do the joints scream like that? In fact, there is a space between the joints that contains synovial fluid, which is a liquid that helps reduce friction between joints when they move. The synovial fluid contains the air bubbles (including oxygen, nitrogen and CO ₂ ).

When you bend or rotate joints, the exact thing you do is stretch the spaces containing the synovial fluid. Open space creates vacuum-like attraction. The air bubbles in the middle are swollen and they explode 'snoopy' , which is the sound you hear.

However, there is also another theory that, actually, the raspy sound is caused by air bubbles rather than exploding. This means that when you stretch the joint, the larger space causes the air to occupy more space and form a bubble. When the ball is formed, they can also make a whooping sound.

Scientists still debate what theory is right. They used both ultrasound machines to monitor the bubbles in the synovial fluid of the joint. The answer is tilted toward the hypothesis that bubbles form. By the chirp, it was emitted after the ultrasound saw an air bubble.

The bubbles in the synovial fluid are the source of the whooping sound when breaking the joint.

But no matter what, there is a fact that when the sound of snooping is heard, the successive breaks that follow will not make the noise appear again. You must wait at least 20 minutes for the bubbles to return to their original state.

Another thing is that the more you bend, the more loose the joints will become. And when the joints are more loose, the easier it is to hear the whooping sounds.

Will the loose joints come into trouble, and lead to later arthritis? Most likely the answer is 'No'. Consider Dr. Donald Unger's findings, arguably the leading researcher on joint cracking. He did a 60-year experiment on himself to see if the joint was harmful or not.

Ever since he was a young man, Unger had been reminded by his mother about how to crack his hands and cause arthritis. Starting from there, he came up with the idea: Unger only cracked one side of his left hand and did it every day while leaving his right hand.

His experiment lasted for decades, until now it has been more than 60 years, but both sides of Unger's hands still have no arthritis. This unique scientific work brought Unger an Ig Nobel prize.

Dr. Donald Unger, who has broken joints for 60 years to prove it does not cause inflammation.

In the field of orthodox research, most medical trials agree with Unger's assertion, that there is no relationship between the phenomenon of cracking and arthritis. A 2010 study conducted on 215 people showed that the habit of cropping is not a risk factor for developing arthritis in the hands.

Even more surprising is that those who do not crack have a higher rate of arthritis than those who do this. A smaller study in 1975, conducted on patients in nursing homes did not find a link between sneezing and disease.

Despite this, there was a rather remarkable study in 1990. It was carried out on 300 people and concluded that breaking hands for long periods of time can lead to swelling and reduced grip. However, since then no new research has confirmed this result.

There are also other cries

As we said, the raspy sound of breaking joints comes from the formation or breakdown of bubbles in the synovial fluid. But sometimes it can be confused with some other sounds also emanating from your body, near the joints.

First, it could be the sound of a ligament. Ligaments act like rubber bands stretching between muscles and bones to connect them. When you move your joints, the ligaments also move and sometimes it can make a more raspy but deep sound.

You can easily hear ligaments when you rotate your ankles, stand up or sit down or climb stairs.

If the noise is accompanied by a sense of pain, you should go to the doctor.

Secondly, there was another continent-like sound but it seemed more hissing than crunching like a broken joint. In fact, it sounds more like a "tooth" , the sound when the bone is rubbing against the cartilage. This friction is most often heard in the knees, but they are also harmless.

In short, you don't need to worry about any 'cooing' or 'cracking' sounds coming from your joints. Unless these sounds come with pain, you should go to the hospital. If not, that is actually the way your body works, very normally.