{"id":1825,"date":"2025-02-20T06:00:47","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T14:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/?p=1825"},"modified":"2025-01-24T15:24:38","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T23:24:38","slug":"knuckle-cracking-and-other-annoying-habits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/knuckle-cracking-and-other-annoying-habits\/","title":{"rendered":"Knuckle Cracking and Other Annoying Habits"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>My mom was visiting us this weekend. When she heard one of her grandkids cracking their knuckles, she said, \u201cDon\u2019t do that \u2013 it\u2019ll cause arthritis!\u201d My child responded confidently \u2013 \u201cNo, it won\u2019t!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then they both looked at me to settle the mini-dispute. I explained that while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/science\/article\/is-cracking-your-knuckles-a-bad-habit#:~:text=Your%20vertebrae%20also%20surround%20the,need%20my%20hands%20for%20work.%E2%80%9D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cracking knuckles<\/a> makes a sound (caused by a change in bubbles of gas in the synovial fluid in joint spaces)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0as irritating to my ears as nails on a chalkboard\u00a0\u2013\u00a0it\u2019s not linked to developing arthritis. I wish it were, so everyone would stop making that awful noise!<\/p>\n<p>Cracking your knuckles releases normal gases that exist in the joint space. Stretching out the joint creates a vacuum and generates a popping sensation and sound. While some people find this a satisfying sensation, it is not in any way beneficial to the body.<\/p>\n<h3>How to help kids get rid of bad habits?<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/childhood-habits-tics-whats-parent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Most kids have some habits<\/a>\u00a0like nail biting, lip licking or hair twirling, and parents often ask me for help getting rid of them (the habits, not the kids!). In general, it helps to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Ignore the habit.<\/strong>\u00a0That\u2019s right \u2013 ignoring a habit will be the quickest path to it disappearing! You can actually prolong habits and make them more severe by constantly calling attention to them. This can increase feelings of stress and make the child continue the habit as a self-soothing behavior. It\u2019s more helpful to occasionally talk directly with your child about their habit. Quietly explain why you want them to stop. You might say that biting nails can lead to skin infections and give them germs that can cause colds or other illnesses. Chewing on shirts ruins the shirt. Licking lips makes them dry and chapped. Then after you talk, most of the time say nothing more.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Try positive praise.<\/strong>\u00a0To help your child quit a habit, try using positivity. Let them know you have faith in them \u2013 they\u2019ll outgrow this and eventually stop. When you notice they haven\u2019t done the habit for a while, praise them! Star charts or stickers can work wonders for young kids.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Distract them.<\/strong> Help them focus on other things or at least keep their hands busy with a fidget toy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Or you could do what I do \u2013 practically yell, \u201cSTOP that noise!\u201d whenever they start up the knuckle cracking. Which works really well \u2026 to make my kids crack up with giggles and continue cracking their knuckles!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cracking your knuckles or other joints occurs when stretching releases normal gases that exist in the joint space. Stretching out the joint creates a vacuum and generates a popping sensation and sound. While some people find this a satisfying sensation, it is not in any way beneficial to the body.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1828,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[454],"tags":[334,207,331,333,332,401],"class_list":["post-1825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-behavior","tag-childhood-habits","tag-discipline","tag-knuckle-cracking","tag-lip-licking","tag-nail-biting","tag-temperament","ages-all-school-ages"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1737760971:8"],"_edit_last":["8"],"slide_template":[""],"video_format_choose":["youtube"],"_custom_body_class":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["90"],"qode_animate-page-title":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-text":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-image":["no"],"qode_show-sidebar":["default"],"qode_hide-featured-image":["no"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["454"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_ages":["293"],"_thumbnail_id":["1828"],"wpfp_favorites":["49"],"_yoast_indexnow_last_ping":["1740061067"],"ase_chapter_enable_timeline":["off"],"_wpb_vc_js_status":["false"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":["[]"],"_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":["[\"\"]"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["2"],"_yoast_wpseo_wordproof_timestamp":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":["knuckle cracking"],"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":["Knuckle cracking may be satisfying for some kids but how do you help your child stop this irritating habit?"],"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":["73"],"ase_map_component_start_point":["a:2:{s:3:\"lat\";d:29.76;s:3:\"lng\";d:-95.38;}"],"ase_mapbox_style":["openstreet"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1825"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4252,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1825\/revisions\/4252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}