How many cracks can you get?



  • Starting from the top,

    One on each side of my jaw

    Five on each side of my neck

    Three in each shoulder

    One on each side around the clavicle area

    Eight on each side of my thoracic vertebrae

    One in each elbow, but for some reason, my left can do two more from torsional manipulation

    One in each wrist

    Four in each thumb

    Four in each forefinger

    Five in each middle and ring finger

    Six in each pinky

    Eight on each side of my lumber vertebrae

    Two in each hip

    A weird one next, each hamstring cracks…not a joint, but certainly a nice crack.

    One in each knee

    Three in each ankle

    One in the joint in the arch of each foot

    Three in each big toe

    Three in each of the next two toes

    Two in each of the next toes

    and finally, one in each pinky toe

    I think that's a total of 150 cracks or 152 if you include the strange hamstring ones.

    Obviously they have different refractory periods so some I do several times an hour while others just a couple of times a day, but they all feel great and I'd be happy to offer tips to anyone wishing to adopt any of these to their routine.

    The people who don't crack just don't understand how important cracking is to the feeling of wellbeing in someone who does crack, every crack counts in a different way.



  • @JayBird:

    I can get an insaaaaane amount, because I can crack several joints multiple ways in the same session:

    • 12 cracks from big toes (2 main joint push down, 1 main joint push sideways and outward, 1 main joint if I bend toe and push toenail against something, 2 from base joint by pushing down on main joint, x 2 toes)
    • 48 cracks total from 6 middle toes - 8 cracks per toe (1 push down top joint, 1 push down bottom joint, 1 pull top joint, 1 pull bottom joint, 1 crack top left, 1 crack top right, 1 crack bottom left, 1 crack bottom right)
    • 4 crack from baby toes (1 push down main joint, 1 by putting the thumb of the opposite hand [so right foot, left thumb] on the bottom of the ball of the foot then pressing up into it while using my ring finger to push down on the top of the base joint of the baby toe)
    • 2 cracks from pushing against the ball of my foot - I think I'm actually popping the sesamoid bones somehow, based on the location of the crack (1 per foot)
    • 4 cracks if I push along the top of my foot (2 cracks per foot)
    • 6 cracks from rotating ankle in a circle (3 per ankle)
    • 2 DEEP cracks from pushing down on ankle (1 per ankle)
    • 6 from knees (3 per knee - planting foot on the ground and twisting against it)
    • 4 from hips - lay in bed and thrust up hard and fast - 1 DEEP pop each side; lay on side and twist/thrust forward, 1 pop each side
    • 12 total from lower back/sacroiliac joint (maybe?) - in bed, laying on right side twisting to left side 2 pops, laying on left side twisting to right 3 pops; on floor laying on right side twisting to left while holding bent left knee down on the floor = 2 more pops, reverse twisting to right side = 4 pops. Then 1 big pop by sitting in a chair in front of my desk and twisting, while using the side of the desk to keep my legs from turning
    • 1 right shoulder, happens involuntarily, can't control it
    • 2 elbows; grasp hands together and turn elbows outwards
    • 4 wrists - 1 each push down (only happens once every few years but is the most incredible crack), 1 each push back
    • 68 total from fingers - like my toes, each knuckle can crack in multiple ways in the same session: push down; push right, push left, pull back, pull back and then push left, pull up. 1 base knuckle cracks from pushing down and rotating clockwise while still pushing (middle finger on my left hand), and 1 base knuckle cracks from being pushed from the palm (pinkie on my left hand - surprisingly deep pop). My thumbs can crack on the regular knuckle by being pushed down and pulled up, can crack on the base knuckle by being pushed down and pushed back, and can crack a few different wrist bones by pulling the thumb back (not down) towards the wrist (there's a crazy amount of wrist bones - check out a diagram sometime!)
    • 12 from my neck - up to 5 turning right, up to 7 turning left. I have to use my hands to brace/for traction on both sides. For some reason I have to open my mouth to get cracks when turning to the left. Weird, huh? The right side can be pretty stubborn, but I just discovered using a heating pad for 45 minutes on that side relaxes it nicely, and I can get it to give up some cracks more easily for up to a week after.
    • 1 from right side of my jaw
      = 188

    Now these are just the max cracks I'm capable of - in one cracking session I probably get maybe 40 cracks, most of them coming from fingers and toes. The most satisfying crack is the wrist push down, but it only happens once every few years without warning. It does seem to occur when I've been staying by the water for a few days. Might be something about the moisture in the air? It also recently happened for the first time in a few years - I'd been in the hospital overnight with an IV in the same arm as the wrist that cracked. Maybe more moisture? Which seems kinda far fetched. More likely, being in a stressful environment I probably just slept in a different position and that did it. Hip cracks are also amazing, but once or twice it's caused severe pain in my right leg.

    The one thing I can't crack? MY UPPER/MID BACK! It seems like that's cracking 101, but I just can't get it to go. I've read so many posts on here about different techniques, with no luck. In fact that's how I first found this site. It will crack if someone pushes on it the right way, but I live alone and am not currently dating anyone, so it's hard to find someone to do it. My sister can do an amazing job - on the top vertebra in my back (not the neck) she can get 5 cracks alone, and then 2 for a few more, then 1. But I only see her a few times a year. Maybe it's time to move closer…

    LOVE TO CRACK!

    wow thats cool! are you double jointed?



  • I have hypermobile joints and loose ligaments. I can bend my thumb down to my wrist, etc. I enjoy cracking, so that's good. But when you have loose ligaments your muscles have to work extra hard to keep your joints in place, since the ligaments aren't doing their part. So my muscles are more tense and painful than (I would guess) most other people's are.



  • @JayBird:

    I have hypermobile joints and loose ligaments. I can bend my thumb down to my wrist, etc. I enjoy cracking, so that's good. But when you have loose ligaments your muscles have to work extra hard to keep your joints in place, since the ligaments aren't doing their part. So my muscles are more tense and painful than (I would guess) most other people's are.

    Why do you have loose joints? Did you suffer an injury?



  • Loose joints do not result from injury. Most cracking doesn't come from injury. It's just the way G*d made me. I did tear my right rotator cuff in college, but it tore easily because my ligaments are loose, not the other way around (i.e. my ligaments aren't loose because it tore).

    My orthopedic surgeon was one of - if not the - top orthos in the country. He was so amazed at how far I could move parts of my body that he brought in a bunch of med students to watch me demonstrate some movements. I can't do any of the really freaky bendy stuff though, luckily.



  • @JayBird:

    Nope, it's just the way G*d made me. I did tear my right rotator cuff in college, but it tore easily because my ligaments are loose, not the other way around (i.e. my ligaments aren't loose because it tore).

    My orthopedic surgeon was one of - if not the - top orthos in the country. He was so amazed at how far I could move things that he brought in a bunch of med students to watch me demonstrate some movements. I can't do any of the really freaky bendy stuff though, luckily.

    Haha what did the med students think of you?



  • I can get cracks so far from head down,
    Neck; kind of the back of my neck.
    Spine; I can crack mainly my lower back alot by using a low chair or having someone walk on my back or even stretching side to side with slot of pressure but I can also crack my upper back with assistance by stepping on it.
    hands; All 3 of each joint in each finger, (knuckle by putting pressure on the base of my finger, mid by putting pressure on the second strip on the finger, and then the tips by holding the the top knuckle firmly and twisting), and the two joints in each thumb by pushing down (1) and then pulling (2).
    Knees; by going on my knees and adding pressure to them
    Ankles; by standing or laying and holding and pushing foot back all the way, or sitting on the floor and sitting on my feet.
    Toes; all the toes by pulling, OR by tightening my toes and then releasing while stretching them which both usually I gets me 1-2 cracks from each. The big toe I usually firmly yank to the side and it cracks.
    These are all usually deep cracks.

    Other then that I get pops and cracks all over my body while just breathing lol so

    I haven't figured out to do any others but I want too!



  • For each finger can do bottom knuckle, middle knuckle, top knuckle to the left and to the right. My top knuckles on each of my index fingers can be popped lightly unlimited times, at least one time per second. My thumb can be popp d at both knuckles and at the joint where my thumb meets my wrist. Can do my wrist by pushing it forward or backward. My kneck cracks in a million places by rotating it at different angles left, right and backwards. My back also cracks in many places. My top ribs just below my shoulder blades crack when I push my chest out and squeeze my shoulder blades together. My spine cracks from the top to the bottom by rotating it and arching it. The back of my hips near where they meet my spine crack on both sides several places by swiveling my hips. My knees and elbows occasionally crack but I don't purposely do it. My jaw sometimes cracks on both sides. Of all the joints that I can crack, my jaw feels like it is not meant to crackedr, so I really need to fight the urge to crack it sometimes. I have felt the center of my chest pop lightly a few times. My ankles each crack, my toes each crack at both knuckle. Finally, I love to crack my foot by folding the outside of my foot under the rest of my foot, as if I am trying to make my small toe knuckle touch my big toe knuckle by bringing them under the other three toes.



  • About 25 from fingers
    10 from toes
    2 from neck (sad)
    2 from ankles
    4 from knees
    5-10 from back (With help)
    2 from wrists
    1 from left elbow
    But I can crack my right elbow unlimitedly!
    About 50-60 per interval (30 mins- hour cooldown) This isnt counting my right elbow
    If you count my right elbow, infinity. (Unless is timed. In about a minute I can reach 100-120 with only my right elbow.)



  • I can crack my fingers (i just twist them side by side), my knuckles, my wrist (up & down), a joint in the middle of my head, my neck both ways, my elbows, my toes, my big toe (side by side)my knees, and i can pop my pelvis/hip bone.


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