Effect on knuckle cracking on the joints

I greatly detest knuckle cracking, and get rather annoyed when people crack many knuckles one after another, which probably stems from a mindset that it will give you spoiled joints in time. Perhaps, it came from my personal experience where I had accidentally cracked joints and experienced pain (my pain threshold is extremely low).

From the understanding of the basis through which the sound is produced, then there will technically be no damage caused by the cracking. The sound produced has nothing to do with snapping or friction, and after all, the gas forced out would eventually redissolve.

However, there are tendons, ligaments and other structures that lie adjacent to your joints. Perhaps in serial crackers, these may be overstretched and damaged in some form. Still, many have claimed to have cracked their knuckles over many years, but have not experienced any repercussions.

The lack of research on this topic leaves it much open to debate. For now, knuckle cracking could be considered 'innocent until proven guilty'.