http://devilspanties.keenspot.com/

This one got me thinking.
Why do we crack our joints?

I do it myself, but can't really fathom why.

Does cracking your joints release some kind of substance into your bloodstream?
Does it feel good? Does it come with age?
What feels so good about it?
Why is it addictive?
Some people shudder in horror when they hear others do it. while others are like "oh yeah please crack my back too".
Heck there's even specialist back crackers that you can pay to crackle you.

How many of you do it?
What do you crack? Neck, finkners, toes, back?
Do you crack your fingers inward or outward?

well..i personally do it because my fingers and ankles havw..issues..and some times they get full of..pressure..and it gets painful to move and kind of heavy...and then i *crack*the joints that are hurting and the pain goes away.

I've heard that it's air pockets in the joints moving that causes the sound... That's all it is apparently. Doing it doesn't really do anything at all. Maybe if you continually stress your joints enough it might lead to increased risk of arthritis in the long term but actually making them crack is a nothing activity.
It's much like popping bubbles in that packing stuff or playing a stupid flash game on the net; just a time waster for for bored people that gives them an artificial and temporary sense of achievement... so you're driven to keep doing it.

-Plus, that kind of "achievement" tends to come with a bit of a placebo effect ;)

ozoneocean, you are correct on the whole, but it also depends on your overall state of physical health.

I, for instance have rheumatoid arthritis in my neck. For some reason, whenever I get a sinus blockage I also get terrible headaches and my neck is in constant agony. If, however, I can get my neck to 'crack', this for some unfathomable reason relieves the pain AND causes my sinuses to drain, thus keeping the pain away for some time thereafter.

I'll admit that this is a rare exception to the rule and that in most instances there is probably only a placebo effect whenever someone cracks their joints.

Well, the two people before me actually stated everything you need to know. The only thing that I can add is that if everything is working correctly, nothing on your body should "pop"

Ah well Fanny, Bobby, if it is about moving air from place to place, then maybe it really does temporally relieve a pressure build-up in that area? It would probably only be a very small amount of air, but then even something as small as a paper cut can cause horrendous pain.

My grandfather was a chiropracter, so all of his disants crack their joints regularly.

Why? Dunno, it just feels right.

... *Cracks her joints.*

I crack my neck alot. I can't help it really. You know when you wake up in the morning and sometimes you have a stiff neck. Cracking it makes that go away. The thing is, the more often I crack my neck the more often I feel I need to crack my neck. I'm trying to back off it nowadays, but there was a time when I just couldn't stop

I crack my ankles, wrists and fingers a lot because they get stiff and are uncomfortable to use until I get rid of whatever built up pressure is causing that feeling. Air, apparently.

That, or if I'm so bored I have no choice but to turn to my own body parts for something to do...?

That came out wrong.

That reminds me of the title of a classic Rolling Stone album: "Sticky Fingers" :)