Possible correlation between double-jointedness and cracking



  • Legacy poll results

    I am double jointed in my shoulders and wrists to the point I can remove them from the joints at will. Do you think there is any correlation between being genetically predisposed to being double jointed and the affinity for cracking?



  • I think you've got something. I'm doublejointed all over my body. I think having that joint flexibility makes you more flexible but also injuryprone, meaning an increased ability to crack joints, and a reason to do so, as to avoid injury and manipulate joints to keep them in line.



  • I respectfully disagree with your statement that being double jointed means you are injury prone. i have been skateboarding for a long time and time and time again being a little more flexible in certain spots has saved me from being seriously hurt.


  • Community Lead

    Yes I whole heartedly agree, but only to some degree. According to Wikipedia Hypermobility is merely a synonym for double-jointedness. Please refer to the thread Hypermobile Joints / Lax liagments as my current favorite cause for "Jointcracktitis".

    Personally, I have only slight measurable hypermobility in my fingers. I certainly do not have extreme double-jointedness as is displayed in many videos on Youtube.com. Use the search terms "double jointed".

    I just watched a few of these and picked my 5 favorites:

    Video 1: Double Jointed Arms version 2

    Video 2: Flying with my Double-Jointed Arms

    Video 3: I'm a Freak of Nature

    Video 4: weird arm thing

    Video 5: Double Jointed Hypermabendybendy

    The first three are from the same Asian girl who is on a mission of enlightening others about her double-jointedness. Hats off to her for doing this. Videos are without doubt the best means to explain this phenomenon.

    All of the above videos have background sound with no music. Interestingly, I can't make out any cracking sounds whatsoever in any of the above videos.

    Also judging from myself, while I do believe, hypermobility is the major driving force in joint cracking, I do not believe you necessarily need to be so extremly double-jointed as displayed in the above videos. I can crack many joints, with only very mild hypermobility. This obviously is still "sufficient" enough to go "popping" on and on.

    Further, I even believe when you have such extreme double-jointedness, you are less prone to the desire to crack your joints over and over again.

    The tendons and liagments in these cases are soo extremely lax that I doubt they cause any tendon or liagment ache from trying to "hold on". These tendons and liagments have long given up.

    One of the theories of the joint snapping sound source says that the sound is not emitted from weird gas bubbles but from snapping tendons which fall out of place and back. This theory implies that these tendons / liagments sit rather tight in the first place.

    There has been another posts about this in the forum diagnosis to determine your Beighton score which is a suitable means to rate your hypermobility. You might be interested to take this test and report back your score.

    Do you feel a strong desire to crack the joints or is joint cracking just a side product of the double-jointedness in your opinion?

    And yes hypermobility has a genetical connection.



  • I disagree, I am not double jointed in any way whatsoever, but I crack all the time. I think it's because I've always been pretty flexible and I just like the sound and feel of cracking. 😄



  • I disagree as people who aren't double jointed crack and also, i think it was MasterCracker who said there isn't really a thing called being double-jointed.



  • Well, my back is hypermobile (double jointed) and cracks basically every time I move it. shrug Doubtless you can crack joints that aren't hypermobile, but mine are and they crack.



  • @Requiem:

    Well, my back is hypermobile (double jointed) and cracks basically every time I move it. shrug Doubtless you can crack joints that aren't hypermobile, but mine are and they crack.

    mine always do, don't know if i'm double jointed though…..



  • @Requiem:

    Well, my back is hypermobile (double jointed) and cracks basically every time I move it. shrug Doubtless you can crack joints that aren't hypermobile, but mine are and they crack.

    I vaguely remember somewhere that you can get that sorted by going to a physiotherapist.



  • First post - I signed up partly because of subjects like this. Double-jointed is a misnomer and misleadingly benign. It can prevent injury in some cases, but for most people it increases the overall risk of injury. It probably has contributed to a few chronic injuries of mine. I have faulty connective tissue and encourage anyone who is very hypermobile or somewhat hypermobile and already in pain to seriously look into the matter. I crack, yes, and was wondering if my body weirdness primed me to do for relief.



  • @knuckled:

    First post - I signed up partly because of subjects like this. Double-jointed is a misnomer and misleadingly benign. It can prevent injury in some cases, but for most people it increases the overall risk of injury. It probably has contributed to a few chronic injuries of mine. I have faulty connective tissue and encourage anyone who is very hypermobile or somewhat hypermobile and already in pain to seriously look into the matter. I crack, yes, and was wondering if my body weirdness primed me to do for relief.

    what do you mean "misnomer"?


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