Carry on cracking your fingers… but do it discreetly

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3 September 2010

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Carry on cracking your fingers… but do it discreetly

[5 February 2010 - 10h59]

Carry on cracking your fingers… but do it discreetly

Is someone at work always cracking their fingers? It can be really annoying… for those around them! But don’t try scaring them into stopping this habit.

According to Professor Maxime Dougados, a rheumatologist at the Cochin Hospital in Paris, it is quite harmless and doesn’t cause joint damage: that irritating little noise you can hear is simply caused by the bursting of the bubble of air separating the surfaces of the joints. It is just creating a kind of empty space within the joint. The same thing happens when we stretch.

However, if you hear a cracking sound in your knee or hip when walking, you should go and get an x-ray. This kind of cracking may be the sign of a cartilage condition such as arthrosis.

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