If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a million times. “Don’t crack your knuckles. You can develop arthritis and the sound is unpleasant.” But of course, you still crack your knuckles.
However after watching this MRI… you might think twice the next time you go to push back your fingers.
Previously, scientists believed that joints cracked when there was a change of pressure caused by a gas bubble in the joint. It turns out this is not the case.
Researchers at the University of Alberta used a MRI to watch a knuckle crack in real time and the image is as disturbing as it is enlightening.
The image revealed that the cracking is not caused by a gas bubble popping, but instead a cavity or “small pocket of gas” forming.
"It’s a little bit like forming a vacuum," said researcher Greg Kawchuk.
"As the joint surfaces suddenly separate, there is no more fluid available to fill the increasing joint volume, so a cavity is created and that event is what’s associated with the sound."
Researchers stated that they never witnessed the cavity disappearing and they also did not find evidence that joint degeneration increased by those who cracked their knuckles.
So, until new evidence is discovered, it’s probably ok to keep doing it.
But it sure looks gross.
This article was first published in the pixable.com