Hey everybody, it's Doctor Jo, and sleepy Bear.
And Bear says "Don't crack your knuckles, do these 7 stretches and exercises instead.
So let's get started.
so I just want to start off by saying
that you will see or hear different
things about is cracking your knuckles
bad for you.
well technically, it's probably not
really that bad for you, but there's
other ways you can get your knuckles and
your joints and your fingers feeling
better. so if you can do stretches and
exercises instead of cracking them,
that's probably the better way to do it. so the first one is just gonna be a
towel or a ball squeeze. and so I'm going
to start off with more kind of exercises,
but I am going to get to some stretches
towards the end, so make sure you stick
around for those if you just
want the stretches. so with the towel and
the ball squeeze, all you're going to do
is just hold it in your hand and just
like it sounds you're gonna squeeze it. I
like to hold the squeeze. this is kind of
working the muscles around the joints a
little bit for maybe about five seconds
and then relax. so holding that squeeze
for about five seconds you can do five
or ten of these. you don't have to
squeeze as hard as you can, you can just
start off with thirty to forty seconds.
if you crack your knuckles a lot,
sometimes it might be some arthritis
type stuff, so this might be
uncomfortable for you to start off with.
so just start off with maybe thirty
forty percent of what you can squeeze,
and you can build your way up from there.
and you can do these a couple times
throughout the day. so then the next one
is going to be kind of strengthening the
other way. so using just a rubber band. it
doesn't have to be a fancy rubber band,
nothing special to it, but just loop it
around your fingers and your thumbs. and
this time what you're gonna do is you're
just gonna open up this way, and then
slowly come back in. so you don't have to
go fast. if you're going fast, that's
gonna take that's just going to be using
momentum instead of actually doing the
muscles getting the work the work for
the muscles doing it. so try and keep
them as straight as you can. you can see
I'm bending in them just a little bit,
this is a little bit thicker rubber band
then maybe you want to start off with if
you haven't done this before,
but the goal is to kind of you know
spread the fingers and the thumb out. and
you're working the outer muscles this
time versus the ball squeeze or the towel
squeeze, you're working those inner
muscles. so again maybe just starting off
with five or ten doing maybe one or two
sets of each at a time, and you can do
that a couple times throughout the day.
so now we're going to get into some of
the stretches. these are really going to
be more
glides for the tendons. a lot of times
if you're cracking your knuckles a lot
and you're getting that audible pop, it
could be from tightness in the joints,
and so getting those those glides on the
tendons sometimes helps a lot. so there's
a couple different ways you can do so
you can get the different joints.
so the first glide we're going to get
these joints right here, the ones closest
to the hand. and so all you're gonna do
is try and keep your fingers up top
pretty straight, and just come down
almost like you're just flattening them
out like almost like a tabletop, and then
coming back up. so you see I'm working
those joints there. so just bringing it
down getting that stretch in there, and
then coming back up. so I'm kind of
gliding those tendons that come in the
arm, into the wrist, into the hand, and so
that helps just kind of loosen
everything up in there. if you've got
some tightness, you've got some scar
tissue, that really helps out. then you
can go into the second Glide which is
these two joints here. so you can kind of
get a combination just by curling them
in now, and then coming back up. so it
really gets all of the joints gliding.
this time if you want to get the thumb
in there too, if you've got some of that, you
can bring your thumb in and then curl
around and then come up. and you see, I
don't know if you heard that, I had a
little pop in my thumb, but that's fine.
but you want to get that movement in all
of those joints getting those tendon
glides to help kind of loosen everything
up. so then going into just spreading out
your your fingers, opening up your hand.
so you can start off with a fist, your
thumb can be out or if you want a little
bit more with your thumb it can be in. if
you have some arthritis in your thumb,
you might actually want to put it on the
outside, whatever is more comfortable for
you. and all you're doing is opening up
your hand as wide as you can. so see I'm
actually kind of going into it some
extension with those, and then come back
in. so this is more of a continuous
movement. this isn't going and holding
the position, but just getting that nice
stretch in there, Fanning everything out
and then coming back in, so getting that
nice movement in there. so the last two
are really going to be stretching the
whole hand, the wrist, and even into the
arms a little bit because again if
you're cracking your knuckles a lot,
there's probably tightness all
way along the chain or the arm. so the
next one is just kind of clasp your
hands together, and then you're gonna
reverse it and push forward. so I'm
getting a stretch through my fingers,
through my wrist, through my forearms, and
everything. so this one could be a little
bit longer, more of a hold like a full
stretch thirty-second stretch. If that's too
much pressure on your hands, you can come
back and Bend those elbows just a little
bit, but to get that full stretch you
want to kind of push everything forward
away from you, getting that stretch and
then that thirty Seconds. then you want
to come back in and do that a total of
three times. so the last one is going to
be a prayer stretch. it's kind of
stretching the same way as the last one,
but just slightly differently. so you're
going to put your hands together like
this, almost like you're praying, a little
bit higher up, and then put your elbows
out to the side. once you get them out
and you feel a little bit of a stretch,
if you bring your hands down towards the
middle, you're gonna get even more of a
stretch. and so I'm really getting a
stretch in my wrist now on the other
side of my forearms there, and then into
my fingers. so I'm getting a nice stretch.
so this is another full stretch where
you're going to hold it for 30 seconds
and then do that three times. so there
you have it. those were exercises for
don't crack your knuckles, but do these
stretches and exercises instead. if you'd
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down there. and remember be safe, right
Bear? have fun, and I hope you feel better
soon.