Knuckle cracking

Out_of_Toon · #1 05-14-2008, 01:55 PM

Ok, here's the thing:
I' ve been playing guitar for 5 years, then made a 10 year pause. A year ago I somehow remembered

that i was actually playing the thing in the past and decided to continue.
Bought a new guitar and a 5-string Squier P-bass, just to have something to record with.
Anyway, a few months ago i decided to give the bass more attention (i.e. not to play it like a guitar) and I found out that a 5-string is maybe too big to swallow for a beginner, so i switched to 4-string Squier J - bass and began practicing insanely

That's when to problem comes in: I've been cracking knuckles for as long as I can remember, and somehow kicked the habit a few years back.
Now, when I started serious practice, after a certain amount of time spent playing (sometimes a few minutes, sometimes several hours), I started feeling a kind of a ''block'' in my left hand knuckles, and thought I should 'pop' them. And guess what? The fingers start to do their thing, that is, play faster and more accurate.

Now, this whole thing somehow bothers me.

Am I doing something wrong?
Is there another way to bypass the ''block'' other that cracking my fingers?
Should I crack them at all?

I would appreciate your opinions, experiences, tips, anything.

Cheers

MonetBass · #2 05-14-2008, 02:01 PM

You're just popping air bubbles in the fluid of your joints. Not a big deal. If it helps, do it. I experience the 'block' you described sometimes, and popping the joints does help.

There are so many myths surrounding this practice, and I'm sure a dissenter will post up soon.

snyderz · #3 05-14-2008, 02:08 PM

You'll go blind!!!! Oh yeah, that's for something else.

McGroovin' · #4 05-14-2008, 02:11 PM

It causes cancer.................of the sarcastic gland.

You'll be fine, like he said air bubbles. Your knuckles should be thanking you if anything for it.

Out_of_Toon · #5 05-14-2008, 02:23 PM

Thanks guys for the quick responses, and some new medical insights

I know about the air thingy, it's one of the theories on what produces the sound (because scientists for some reason can't agree about a definite answer) but the thing that got me thinking is that a friend of mine, who is an educated musician said that I must be doing something wrong, because that sort of thing is ''forbidden'' in classical musical education?!

Maybe it's a tiny bass player in each of my knuckles, poppin' all the time?

DudeistMonk · #6 05-14-2008, 02:26 PM

I keep hearing YOU'LL GET ARTHRITIS!!...doesn't make a ton of sense to me...I always loved cracking as many joints as I could, but I'm only 23 so who knows I might lock up like a rusty hinge in 20 years...but then again I might also get 3 different types of cancer, blood clots, mental illness...and I know I'm gonna have those annoying eyelid moles, damn your genetics grandpa!

Out_of_Toon · #7 05-14-2008, 02:38 PM

The arthritis thing has been disproved, but it'd be sort of cool if your fingers would liquify

As i said, been popping for some 20 years now, never had a problem, was just curious if that would affect my playing.

Maybe I'll invent a knuckle popper.

nsmar4211 · #8 05-14-2008, 09:32 PM

I've cracked my knuckles since I was a kid......and after a couple years of playing crash cymbals I have to crack my elbows too. Makes everyone cringe but if I don't they feel locked up!

My dad never cracked his and he has arthritis and gout......soo.....

coolrunner989 · #9 05-14-2008, 09:35 PM

yeah, theres nothing wrong with it. My chiropracter even recommends it if you feel pressure building up, pain if you dont do it, etc.

He did recommend against twisting them to pop them though, as that can stretch your tendons a bit to far (I think, we had this discussion a few years ago when I started going regularly)

MarkTAW · #10 05-14-2008, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolrunner989

yeah, theres nothing wrong with it. My chiropracter even recommends it if you feel pressure building up, pain if you dont do it, etc.

He did recommend against twisting them to pop them though, as that can stretch your tendons a bit to far (I think, we had this discussion a few years ago when I started going regularly)

Sometimes I twist my wrists to crack them - on the pinky side where the bone in the palm & the bone in the wrist don't quite line up, you pull the one in the palm towards you, compressing the area and that cracks the wrist.

I also, oddly enough, can crack my jaw just by moving my jaw muscles.

I really think I should stop doing these things.

**Rune Bivrin** · #11 05-15-2008, 01:36 AM

I'm an avid cracker since I was about 12 years old. My favorite cracking is doing it against a table or wall. The resonance can be fantastic.

But I don't know about the "air bubbles". When I started doing it it was a concious effort, and sligtly painful the first few times.

I can also crack my jaw, but that's pointless since there's little audible effect outside of my own head.

MarkTAW · #12 05-15-2008, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rune Bivrin

I can also crack my jaw, but that's pointless since there's little audible effect outside of my own head.

Oh right. I forgot that the true purpose of cracking your knuckles was to annoy the squeamish around you. ;-)

2Three · #13 05-15-2008, 11:56 AM

Playing video games for a few minutes before playing helps loosen the fingers up as well. But I also do the knuckle-popping too.

tswd · #14 05-15-2008, 03:37 PM

It seems like every joint in my body cracks every now and then. Multiple times, every day, I have to crack my fingers, shoulders, neck, back, knees, and toes. If I don't crack them, they start to lock up and feel painful.

I've been told it's not a problem and is actually good for you. I've never, ever, forced a joint to pop. The pressure in the joint builds up to the point where it's a little uncomfortable and then just a slight motion will cause it to pop and feel 100% better. It's actually part of my warm up before going on stage or practicing. Do normal warm ups, then go through and crack everything to make sure it's really ready to go.

WickedPissah · #15 05-15-2008, 04:45 PM

I do it too. My knees and ankles crack like hell, and add me to the "Bassists who crack their jaws club"

Xanthyr · #16 05-19-2008, 06:22 AM

Popping my fingers, toes, knees, ankles, shoulders, sometimes elbows, a chronic neck cracker (Oh lawdy does it feel fantastic). Then, my hip pops. It feels like a shotgun of relaxation is shot into my body every time I pop my hip. Loud as hell too.

I'm glad to hear that it's not degenerative, I would be a prime canidate of negative affects.

I don't know many people that can pop their shoulders, what I do is I swing my arm dead-weight over behind me and slightly towards the other side (Right arm to back of left food).

Tapout73 · #17 05-19-2008, 12:39 PM

I actually crack or rather pop my wrists too by twisting it. It lets out a nice loud pop, can this be bad for me?

MODNY · #18 05-19-2008, 08:57 PM

cracking knuckles is totally fine.

Traver · #19 05-20-2008, 12:40 PM

Remember, if someone says "my arm just cracked", it's actually secret hidden-message-speak for "I'm going to kill you".

Out_of_Toon · #20 05-20-2008, 02:15 PM

Wow, this was an unexpectedly large feedback on a topic that didn't look so interesting at first

It's now comforting enough to know that each time I crack a knuckle, some guy out there cracks his neck...and lives.
Good enough for me

I think everyone should record themselves cracking their whatevers and then we should mix it into a beat.
Just to annoy all those people that go ''eew'' when they hear the cracking