If you’ve ever popped or cracked your joints — by accident or on purpose — you’re not alone. There’s even a medical name for that crackling, clicking or popping sound your bones make: crepitus.

The popping sound habitual knuckle crackers make may be annoying — or even alarming — but are they actually harming themselves? The research is somewhat limited but generally concludes that ...

Whether it’s one or all of your knuckles, you may wonder what causes the cracking sound. Although interesting, “cracking joints” and “popping knuckles” are not fully understood. In fact, cracking ...

Roshini Raj, MD, is Health's former magazine's medical editor and coauthor of What the Yuck?!. Board-certified in gastroenterology and internal medicine, Dr. Raj is a Clinical Associate Professor of ...

If snap, crackle, and pop aren’t just sounds coming from your breakfast cereal, you may have wondered if these cracking noises you hear from your joints (ankles, shoulders, or knees) are normal.

A bit of relief, or maybe just a force of habit: We’re separating fact from fiction about what happens when you crack your knuckles and other joints. * It all has to do with the “synovial fluid” in ...

Although a lot of people love cracking their knuckles, the habit is poorly understood. Many likewise believe that knuckle-cracking may cause a number of health problems. Some people, for instance, ...

There are two types of people in this world: those of us who crack our knuckles and those who absolutely despise it. For many years, the debate on whether popping your joints is good or bad has raged ...

Neil Tuttle does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their ...

Every now and then I crack my knuckles and sometimes my other joints creak and pop too. I'm not even that old, really! Should I be concerned? Are my noisy joints bad? Cracking sounds on your joints ...

We have all done it—cracked our knuckles, twisted our neck, or popped a shoulder just for that oddly satisfying click. And chances are, someone nearby immediately gasped, “Stop that! You’ll get ...

From fingers and toes to necks and knees, everyone knows a “cracker.” Up to 45% of people do it. And most habitual joint poppers have heard rumors their habit may cause arthritis. But are those rumors ...