How do you stop cracking your knuckles?

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I've been cracking my knuckles several times a day for over 10 years and my hands feel fine. I only want to stop because I recognize it as an unconscious habit, and almost an addiction. One thing I did was to write down every time I cracked a joint, noting the time, joint and method. It turns out I crack a joint on average every 10 minutes, and only realize it right after its been done. The best thing I've found to try to quit is to just as often go through the motion of cracking the joint, but don't go far enough to actually let it pop. The habit part of your brain seems to accept this as the task being fulfilled, and eventually the urge will subside.

I am 20 years old and have been cracking my knuckles since I was nine. At first it was for fun, now it is just an unconscious habit. I crack if I'm thinking, reading, or just watching TV. I don't usually notice anymore unless someone points it out to me. I can now crack my fingers, my big toes, ankles, knees, wrists, elbows, shoulders, back, neck and jaw. The jaw scares me, I don't think I'm supposed to be able to crack that. Also supposedly you have to wait between cracking joints for the gases to escape from the joints. As for stopping, It's really hard! I'm not even aware I'm doing it anymore! What has helped me a bit though, it to make sure I'm doing something else, like squeezing one of those stress relieve balls. I'm keep one on hand, and I'm trying to train myself to reach for that. I figure if I can make that into an almost unconscious action, than I'll stop cracking in favor of that. The stress ball should also improve my grip, which I know cracking knuckles damages.

I looked at this page hoping to find a good way to stop cracking my knuckle's. Well from reading all of the comments it looks like I am going to have to keep struggling with the conventional way. Breaking the habit for I guess at least 21 days like the person suggested. I do have some suggestions that might help those of you who are trying to quit. My hands are not doing well these days, due mostly to abuse, knuckle cracking for approx. 13 or so years), and my job. I wasn't having a problem with my hands until I made it through school and into a career in computer aided design. I draft 3d models on my computer and I use the mouse an insane amount during the day. When I try not to crack my knuckles my hands feel like they are going to explode between cracks. They get very tight and ache. It's so easy to just go pop and relieve the pain, but I do not think I will be able to finish my career doing what I love if I do not stop. If you have an interest in quitting the knuckle cracking and you get the tension in your hands like me try putting Aspercreme on them a few times a day. It's an arthritis cream that will reduce the pressure feeling in your hands a little and help you forget about your fingers needing cracked. I also keep a small ergonomic bean bag at my desk. It's only about 4" wide and 6" long and I can squeeze it, twist it, or play toss with it when my hands feel crampy or fidgety. However don't think that the Aspercreme will solve all problems, it only takes away a little bit of my tension, self restraint is the other part(that's why I haven't quit yet). Hope this helps some of you guys.

I am 10 years old and I have been clicking my fingers for the last three years now cause it all started with a boy in our class trying to get me and my friends to do it and when I got home my mum said 'you know if you keep on doing that you will get arthritis when your older' and I asked her what arthritis was and she said it's when your bones all get stiff and joints can get really sore when you try to move them and so I stopped doing it for a little while then it became a habit and I started doing it every day and the it became months then it became years and I just couldn't stop doing it.

Although the sound bothers some people, cracking your knuckles is not harmful and may even be beneficial. The old wives' tales about getting arthritis or big knuckles is nonsense, and a study came out recently that indicated those who crack their knuckles actually have more limber joints over time and that may help reduce the chances of arthritis forming in the hands.

Cracking knuckles is a horrible habit. I cracked my knuckles for eight years and I just recently quit and it took me about a half a year to fully quit. First I had tried giving it up slowly, cracking it three times a day for a week then two for a week then one, but I always ended up cracking them again so I went cold turkey. Every time I had an urge to pop them I would flex all of my muscles and hold my hands far apart as if stretching; then Ii would keep doing this until the urge was over. If the urge didn't end I would roll my fingers so they didn't snap but just loosened them up. I kept at it and now no longer have urges and the urges became less frequent as time went on.

I crack my knuckles and I want to stop. I'm even conscious that I do it and that I want to stop but I keep doing it. I see no obvious utility in one cracking their knuckles, so I figure it becomes an addicting thing with its roots somewhere deep in the human mind that cannot be observed not unlike smoking, where it's less a physiological need than it is a psychological need. In the end, this isn't an answer I guess, but more a personal reflection. I wish there was something I could do or take to snap out of it -- hypnosis maybe, but if the person on a post above weaned himself off it over a period of six months than maybe it's possible. To me that would seem so difficult as the time between my urge and my actual cracking of the knuckles to satisfy that urge is most of the time pretty much instantaneous. If it were smoking it might be easier because there's a little bit more time there between the urge onset and the eventual puffing of the smoke given that you have to find your cigarettes, take one out of the pack, put it in your mouth, light it up, (find your lighter or matches first if you need to), get yourself outside if you're in a public domain, etc. (ie., all time to think about "not wanting to do this"). With knuckle cracking it's just bang -- done.

It's been approximately 12 years since I've been cracking my knuckles. I'm absolutely convinced that it is an addiction to the fullest extent. I've started to research the topic because recently, within the last six months or so, my hands have begun to hurt. I've noticed that if they hurt a bit and I crack the knuckle, it then hurts a lot. I doubt that it's arthritis but it does seem to make sense in the context of hyper extension. I crack my knuckles all the time and even try to crack them before they're "ready again". I've also noticed in this time that my hands seem to have become really weak, which is weird because I'm usually on the stronger side. Now I'm discovering that these symptoms are consistent with scientific research. It seems imperative that I quit very soon. I'm only in my early twenties and it if I continue for another 10 years, my hands will likely be useless. On the plus side, I have noticed that during times when I'm up doing something, I crack much less. I was in field camp last summer and I barely cracked my knuckles at all (if you don't know what that is, it involved a lot of hiking and mapping). I'm going to get one of those stress balls to help me when I'm at work on my computer, but otherwise, I'm going to get up and get outside. I would recommend this to anyone who's trying to quit. This also will have the added advantage of making life more active and less like a couch potato's.

I crack my knuckles and I just can't stop, I've tried everything! The rubber band, the polish, the band aids, the rolling your joints, the stretching your joints, the pulling your hands apart, I've even tried to stop cracking and start chewing my nails, but nothing has helped. It annoys everyonem but it's an addiction and hard to stop. Unfortunately like a smoking addiction for example you can't put on a patch or chew some gum to make the craving go away! I have popped for five years and tried to stop many times. I naturally have super cold hands so when they feel really cold I put my hands together to warm them up and I just end up cracking.

I'm doing research on knuckle cracking, and the results stand thus: the actual action of cracking doesn't damage your joints--but hardcore knuckle crackers tend to have swollen hands and trouble grasping physically. That scares me, as one who's been cracking knuckles for around eight years! Find something else to do. If you have the urge, STOP YOURSELF and do something else, ANYTHING else. Clench your hands, or grab an object and clench your hand around that. Wear an elastic band on your wrist and pull at it. I'm going to try, since I want to stop.

I found that just thinking that cracking your knuckles isn't that great, it helps to get rid of the urge to do it. Making a fist with your thumb in it stops it too. It is most difficult when you begin to feel pain and tension if you don't crack them.

I crack my knuckles a lot. I do it all of the time, when I'm bored; in the shower; I stop typing to do it; while I'm washing my hands, and just about every second of the day. It actually seemed to mess up my knuckles, they got bigger, started hurting, and I can only crack my knuckles certain ways or it hurts a lot. I tried to stop 'cold turkey' but I crack my knuckles so much I don't even realize I'm doing it till I'm halfway through (if i do one, I have to finish), so I asked the people who are around me most of the time to slap my hands when I crack my knuckles, which worked for about a day, but only when I was near them. I can't stop, but I trying to before it gets as bad as me.

I've been cracking my knuckles for a while, and though I can find no scientific link to arthritis, I know it can't be good for my hands. I've tried to stop; I crack other joints as well, but it seems to be a habit and I just can't stop. I know how much friends want me to stop but I just can't seem to. I find that if my hands are in my pockets I don't need to crack my knuckles or, if I can play with an elastic band, but I need a more permanent solution.

Maybe getting one of those Heat Pads and put it on your knuckles keeping them relaxed. and you wont need to crack.

I crack my knuckles, my wrists, my back, my neck, my toes, everything you could imagine and as good as it feels now when I do it, I'm afraid I'm going to wake up one day with intense pain all over.

I've been cracking my knuckles for some time now, but lately I've been working on cracking it less and less. As a matter of fact I can crack 63 joints at any given time, 30 just on my hands (32 if you count wrists"). Of course people say this is a great stress reliever because it stretches your joints and I agree and they stretch it out, but there is also such a thing as "too loose."

There have been studies concerning people who have and haven't cracked there knuckles. Even though there are no arthritis differences, people who crack their knuckles have shown signs of deep tissue damage. Arthritis is a tear in the tissue and ligaments around the joints, but as far as cracking knuckles go, it doesn't break it, but stretches the tissue. This can cause hyper extension, torn ligaments and cramps if you keep stretching it and believe me they hurt, especially on a finger you use a lot. Every time you crack a knuckle and stretch the tissue, the tissue will remain stretched and it will take more and more effort to crack that same knuckle although you don't notice it. This will station your bones farther and farther apart causing a weakness in grip strength and hand "solidity." You basically become more and more of a butter finger (dropping things.) Sometimes I do it when it really is a stressed part, but at least I don't do it for fun anymore and hopefully I can fully stop this.

Stretching is the answer. I used to crack my neck all the time. Just recently, I've been stretching and doing some home-based yoga stretches and I don't need to crack my knuckles anymore. I'm not sure what to make of this, but I've now stopped after cracking my knuckles for most of my life.

I stop what I'm doing just so I can crack my knuckles. Homework, typing, eating, driving, etc. It doesn't matter where I am. In Health Class for a project we had to set a goal to do something like exercising more or eating better or stopping a habit whatever we chose. Well I chose to stop cracking my knuckles. To make a long story short it didn't work. I had also just ordered my class ring and the man who was checking your finger to see what size you needed he said, "Hmmm, big knuckle, small finger. Your finger would be a size 6 but with your knuckle you're going to need a size 6.5" It doesn't matter to me the exact number, but the fact that I needed to get a bigger ring because of my knuckle. So I had hoped by stopping cracking my knuckles through health class that my knuckles would stop swelling and go back down to the normal size. Maybe that will happen if I actually did stop cracking but the urge! It's terrible! Now it's getting to the point that it seems to me that I have to crack or else my fingers just ache so terribly. The weekend after Christmas, I was in charge of taking all the Christmas stuff inside and outside from my Grandfather's house to the basement of the house. Well needless to say I dropped two figurines. I also have problems just holding normal things like cups or silverware that kind of stuff. I have to exert more force to hold things. I think the only good thing coming from cracking knuckles for almost nine years is that my typing is more fluent and faster.

I am 33 I have been a knuckle cracker for as long as I can remember. The fact is if you look at this who always tells you not to crack your knuckles ... your parents. They are concerned, but cracking knuckles is a difficult habit to get over and perhaps there is a good physical reason why some people crack their knuckles. All of the scientists I have questioned about this at Uni say that there is not any connection between cracking your knuckles and arthritis.

Cracking knuckles generally starts when an individual is young and can be a nervous habit or some individuals know they can do it and either enjoy the feeling or, they just get enjoyment out of attracting attention from others. Eventually it becomes a habit or an addiction. A 'knuckle cracker' has to try to be constantly aware they are doing so. One way is to put an elastic band around one's wrist (on the loose side) and when that individual feels they are going to crack their knuckles again, give a good snap of the elastic band. The elastic band will sting slightly, but the point to this action is to make yourself aware of when the 'urge' comes to crack your knuckles. This habit can be broken. However, further studies find that it is similar to 'restless leg syndrome' and my husband suffered from that. He said he felt like his legs wanted to yawn and he had to stretched and jerk his legs which was an annoying habit to others around him. I took him to a Homeopathic doctor who prescribed Calcium and Magnesium and he does not have that problem any longer. I would think the same would stand true for knuckle crackers and while they think it is a habit it's may well be a depletion of Calcium (you need the Magnesium for the Calcium to be absorbed.)
i crack my knuckles and i feel fine
When you crack a knuckle or joint you are actually relieving pressure of a liquid in the area. Supposedly if you crack your knuckles long term it can end up with swollen and sore joints, and less strength.

Now this people, is what we call an answer!

I've been cracking and popping my knuckles almost every bone in my body It's annoying! I crack my knuckles, back, neck, elbows, knees, shoulders, toes. I've tired almost everything to stop the habbit but I can't If I don't crack I start feeling very stiff and half of my body hurts, once i crack a bone the stiffness goes away. I've tired forgetting about cracking my bones but later they crack by themselves. Also everytime I walk around my toes crack. What can I do to stop the habbit?

First answer by ID1159875617. Last edit by Karina117. Contributor trust: 0 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 187 [recommend question]