By Marilyn on Sunday, June 04, 2000 - 01:07 pm:

Hi! I was apologizing to my hubby of eight years
the other day because I pop my joints all the
time and hoped it didn't get on his nerves. He's
never indicated that it does, but it gets on my
nerves that I have to do this so much. I pop my
neck, lower back, hips, elbows, wrists, fingers,
knees, ankles, and toes. And my left shoulder
just recently started in as well, when I began
feeling some discomfort in the joint. I have
tried several times to stop popping my joints, but each time I have experienced the joints
stiffening up and becoming painful, eventually
(later in the same day!) hardly being mobile at
all. So, when I begin to feel some discomfort in
a joint, I pop it. Almost always, the discomfort
disappears immediately. Does this sound ok?

Thanks,
Marilyn

By Sue C on Sunday, June 04, 2000 - 01:07 pm:

Sounds extremely familiar!

By Suzie on Sunday, June 04, 2000 - 01:08 pm:

i have crazy hypermobile shoulders, and get enough grief from my friends and fam... don't mind that other message!! :D
ANYWAY, i feel like this page is a club of people with this "uniqueness."
we're special!

By Kim on Sunday, June 04, 2000 - 01:08 pm:

Marilyn,

This is exactly what I do every day. I apologise to my family as well, because I know it irritates them, my mother in particular. She says that popping my joints will
make them worse. Is there any evidence of that? She thinks that will make the ligaments wear out faster. I've wondered for years if this claim is valid. Any ideas,
anyone?

Take care,
Kim

By Marilyn on Sunday, June 04, 2000 - 01:09 pm:

Kim,

I've heard that, and that it can cause arthritis, and that it will make my knuckles enlarge down the road. I don't know what to make of it all. I'd like to know if this is
going to hurt me in the long run. But it's so good to see I'm not alone. I've just barely scratched the surface of reading some of the messages posted on this forum.
I've already learned a little bit, but far to go.

Blessings,
Marilyn

By JAS on Sunday, June 04, 2000 - 01:09 pm:

I am loose jointed and have been cracking joints
since I was a kid. My wrist or elbow gets stiff
and hurts, I crack it and everything is alright
for a while.

I have found that I have to be careful about using excessive force and also not
to do it out of nervous habit. I can crack some
fingers sideways, but if I do it because I am
nervous, I'll injure the joint and have to tape
it up. I've gone through all of this my whole
life and thought everyone else did, too.

I leave the cracking of my neck to my Chiropractor.

By Gretchen on Tuesday, June 06, 2000 - 01:34 pm:

My hips, neck and ankles pop when I move around. I don't put any effort into it, it just happens. some times it is loud enough for others to hear.

By Sheri Cobb on Tuesday, June 06, 2000 - 03:15 pm:

Gretchen I am having the same problem and it just started two months ago. It is my hips,knee, ankles shoulders and even my forarm. If you find anything out, please post it. Thanks, Sheri

By jone williams on Saturday, June 10, 2000 - 02:05 pm:

WOW! I thought I was alone in the rice crispies box with all my joints popping and cracking.

By Jude on Sunday, June 11, 2000 - 11:24 am:

No, you are not alone by any means. If I may add my four pennies worth:
I can pop/crack my neck numerous times a day and crunch excessively whenever I tense up and pull on it.
I have been cracking my knuckles for as long as i can remember, since childhood, and have now got this amazing ability to crack my toes - I can make my big toe crunch repetitively.
I have been making my right wrist click repetitively again for as long as I can remember.
I have now developed the ability to pop my shoulder and left elbow - much to my disgust as it is making the nagging 'dead' feeling a lot worse.
And...when my back muscles are in spasm I too crackle and pop; one physio did in fact call me the rice crispy lady!!! Just like you Jone! The only way I can describe my back to those who haven't felt it is that it's like bubble wrapping (that poppy stuff you wrap parcels in...of course you all know that anyway :)!) It's the only similarity when my back is being rubbed. Now I have been reading this site and especially now that I have just summarised my 'abilities' maybe i ought to go and get a proper diagnosis!!! Take care everyone, bye.

By Andrea on Saturday, July 01, 2000 - 08:29 am:

Pop as much as you want! It does not damage anything (I got this confirmed by a physiotherapist). And if it gets on other people's nerves point out something they do that gets on yours! I can pop my vertebrae IN SUCCESSION so that they sound like a machine gun! My spine is so floppy that my muscle moves all the time, contracting and relaxing all over the place. My pelvis is at times so stuck that I have to twist and turn to get it unstuck and then it pops mith an almighty "BANG". Happy popping, everybody!

By Kathy on Tuesday, September 19, 2000 - 07:15 pm:

I heard that when bones pull away from each other that the empty space gets filled by a bubble of nitrogen gas. Then when the joint is cracked, the bubble gets popped, easing the discomfort we all know so well. We have to pop more because our bones move around more. It sounds crazy, but I heard it from a doctor.

By jess on Wednesday, February 28, 2001 - 12:12 am:

yeh kathy, thats what i heard, when i lived in england i went to see a professor rodney graham and i recently read articles written by him saying it was nitrogen gas.
the joints that crack in my body are increadsing; my ankles, shoulder, back, fingers, elbow. the joint in my elbow is actually really sore though.
Its really annoying having to crack all the time just to feel better.

By Gwen on Thursday, March 01, 2001 - 11:37 am:

This is something I have wondered about for a while. Whenever I have told a doctor that my joints click or crack I have received the same answer, that it is the nitrogen escaping.
But in my experience there are two different types of cracking. That kind which I know occurs in everybody from time to time but also another kind which seems to be peculiar to us hypermobiles.
I liken it to the phenomenom that one finds when doing a jigsaw puzzle if one of the pieces is warped or is put in the wrong place. It can be made to fit but something will buckle or pop out somewhere else in the picture.
I always feel as if my whole skeleton is like that, get one piece quiet and in place and something will pop out elsewhere. It is almost as if my body is too small to contain all the bones and something has to be out of alignment to get them all in. I frequently feel that I need to be stretched to make room for my spine.
I know it isn't postural. Although I do have some scoliosis I am very careful to stand and sit correctly and try to use both sides of my body equally. I am currently seeing a musculo-skeletal specialist who told me that my posture was very good apart from some twisting in my pelvis.
What I have wondered is whether the crappy ligaments, as well as failing to hold joints in place also allow them to collapse in on themselves so that the spaces between bones are minimised and the joint surfaces more likely to come into contact with each other, hence the "other" type of click and the pain.
I hope this makes sense.

By Kristen on Friday, June 08, 2001 - 06:36 pm:

Oh my god, as I sit here and read this I'm popping my knuckles (numerous times) and my toes. I was diagnosed with EDS when I was really small (I was always falling and getting cut and getting 500 stitches at a time, someone finally clued in that this wasn't probably right). I was really lucky where I was told my limitations early (and preferred books to sports). I just started researching this disorder yesterday and I am completely stunned and shocked that I've lived with something for so long and never could attribut any of these things to my "skin condition". I was always so tired and my shoulder would randomly dislocate, the true meaning of relief is when I take my shoes off and crack my big toe. It sounds so amazingly silly, but to see that other people go through this is amazing. I remember this past winter feeling my knees just ready to give out or just really achy and not knowing why and I'd think to myself "Oh my god, my body is just falling apart!". I'm just thankful to see that I'm not as abnormal as I thought.
Thank you for letting me know it's ok to crack my knuckles and toes, I think I'd freeze up if I didn't.
Kristen