Can you get arthritis if you break your fingers off?

When I was a child, when I watched gangster movies, the main characters in the movies often clicked their fingers.

My friends thought it was a very handsome move and followed suit one after another, but they were sternly stopped by their parents, [because they would get arthritis if they broke off too much].

Is this really the case?

Physiological Bounce under Normal Conditions

When the fingers of adults are suddenly pulled or folded, they often make a crisp burst sound. In fact, this kind of bounce is a normal physiological phenomenon and is caused by gas vibration in the joint cavity.

There is a gap between normal joints all over the body, which is called joint cavity. Although it is called cavity, the gap inside is actually full of liquid. Normally, the two sides of the joint are sucked together by liquid to ensure that our joints work smoothly. Only in this way can we take chopsticks, pull handrails, squat down and other actions.

When the joint is pulled or folded, an obvious cavity appears in the middle of the joint cavity. The surrounding gas rapidly diffuses into the cavity and makes a crisp noise together with the liquid. This is the clicking sound we hear.

When bouncing, capillaries and peripheral nerves around the joint will be stimulated, thus increasing local blood circulation, helping to relieve spasm and inflammation, and will not cause joint damage, so arthritis will not occur.

In addition, snapping fingers will not lead to joint bulkiness. Because the essence of joint bulkiness is hyperosteogeny after joint damage. Since the joint is not damaged, the natural joint will not become larger.

Is the sound of all joint movements normal?

It can be said that it is physiological and must meet the following four conditions at the same time:

  1. It only occurs when the joint is suddenly pulled or flexed.

  2. Before playing, the joints must have a certain rest period.

  3. The sound is crisp, single and non-repetitive.

  4. Accompanied by pain or discomfort, often feel relaxed after bouncing; Of course, sometimes the pain or discomfort may not be obvious.

If any of the above four conditions is not met, it is pathological bounce.

Some common pathological bounces and possible diseases:

  1. Pathological ringing of shoulder joint-usually trauma, often muscle strain;

  2. Pathological ringing of elbow joint-it may be dislocation of bone or too flexible joint;

  3. Pathological sound of ankle-Achilles tendon bears too much force or tendon is damaged;

  4. Pathological ringing of knee joint-usually cartilage tear;

  5. Pathological clicking of chin-often temporomandibular joint problems or molar problems.

The more common snap knee

Knee joint bounce, also known as [bounce knee], may be caused by various injuries to the knee joint; Among them, many people lack exercise, resulting in too little fluid in the joint cavity, and it is easy to hear the bounce.

If the doctor can confirm that there is no joint disease in what after examination, then it is simply bouncing the knee. The simple bouncing of the knee does not have any pain, has little impact on the human body, and does not need any special treatment.

However, if you feel obvious pain during squatting and other actions, it may be pathological knee bouncing, and meniscus injury is the most common cause.

At this time, it is necessary to go to the hospital as soon as possible so that the doctor can make a judgment based on the medical history, symptoms, X-ray or MRI and other imaging examinations.

In short, occasionally snapping your fingers will not cause arthritis. However, we don’t need to break off all the time and intentionally break the stable state of the joint cavity. After all, lubricated joint movements are the basis for us to complete various movements.

Responsible Editor: Fei Fei