To crack a joint is to be alive. Like the splitting of a twig, it is natural. It reminds you that you are part of nature. In one way, you are connected to the popping of the joint: it is your joint, and it creates a sense of relief. Yet in another way, your are distant from it - the sound is unusual and surprising. You have control over the event, but only to make the commitment and to set into motion a sequence after which there's a point of no return. Then you have no control, nature takes over, and your body creates that unmistakable sound of existence. Like a boulder dropped on the ground near you is sure to emanate a shock wave that you feel throughout your entire body. Yet you are the rock, the ground, the shock wave, and the observer all at the same time. You are separate from it yet connected deeply. It's paradoxical.

Regards,
HypnoSnoopy

I know this is an old thread but I had a funny thought… for whomever may read this thread....

Just massage your husband's hands and feet and crack his fingers and toes... he'll love it and become addicted just like you, and then he won't be able to complain anymore! Hehehe....

The Evil HypnoSnoopy

I joined because I wanted to help someone with their painful wrist cracking, so I posted a reply.

Haven't done it in a while, but both hip joints. Laying on floor on back, spread both feet out slightly wider than shoulders. Push down on feet to raise abdomen. Actually I just did it again right now trying to figure out how to explain it.

But the one that gets me is my right 2nd toe. I have to crack it sometimes or I get anxiety and can't sleep! Jeesh this is a serious mental addiction hehe! But then feels so good after cracking it.

@carpal:

about a month ago i was cracking my knuckles (usually the only joints i crack) against my face, and i was surprised that it made my wrists crack! ever since then i've been manipulating them like that and they sing to me.

however, i feel like it's a bad obsession now, particularly with my left wrist. it will crack several times in just a few minutes if i bend it a certain way. the problem is, i think i'm over-cracking. it often hurts, a stinging deep pain. i know i should leave it alone but instead? i just make it crack more. it actually makes me shudder because the cracks are so loud and harsh. but i can't stop doing it! it's like a drug. i feel like i'm abusing my wrist though - should i be concerned about the pain?

I'm no expert, but pain is indication that you are hurting yourself. I also had pain from wrist cracking, and devised an alternate method. First I need to describe wrist anatomy as best I can for the purpose of hand placement. At the base of your palm just above the wrist joint (above=closer to fingers), extended down from the thumb and pinky there are two prominent bony protrusions. On the back of the hand, just below the wrist (below=towards elbow) there are also two prominent bony protrusions. Let's just say the wrist joint is mostly inbetween these. Even if I'm not 100% right, that's good enough for what I'm about to explain…

So one method is to hold your left wrist (palm down) inbetween these bones with your right index-finger on the palm-side and thumb on the back side, and create an expansion of the joint from the compression pressure of your right hand. Then you only need to bend your left wrist forward and backwards a tiny amount - maybe 20 degrees forward and back to get a pop. Work it... don't expect it to crack the first time.

It may help to put the right index finger directly on the palm-side bony protrusion that extends down from the pinky (just above the wrist). Similarly, you might put the right thumb directly on bony protrusion on the back of your wrist below your left thumb (just below the wrist). In this manner, you may be twisting your ulna and radius, and by resisting this twist with your left hand, you can also achieve a pop. Experiment.

Another alternative is to do just as I said above... with the compression... and work the wrist forward and back with like a massaging action... to loosen up the wrist. Then crack your wrist as normal with hyperextension, but it will crack easier because you've loosened it up first.

Or use a combination of the two techniques, but never hyperextending too much, working the joint until it pops easily without too much hyperextension. The key is to loosen the wrist until it pops easily.

I do similar things with other joints. Rather than forcing a pop on the first try, I work the joints to loosen them up so I can crack without hyperextending them as much.

Regards,
HypnoSnoopy