http://www.orthop.washington.edu/art...eral/joints/05
Purposefully cracking your knuckles
WILL NOT lead to arthritis, although arthritic joints will pop and crack. Since artritis is the break down of cartilage and is esentially bone rubbing on bone, popping your knuckles is not a cause of arthritis. People that do pop their knuckles will happen to notice that their knuckles are bigger, and this is due to the fact that if you pop them regularly you are stretchign the tendons and ligments out. They adjust by getting bigger so that you can pop away but still have a decent grip. I've read that popping your knuckles does lead to reduced grip strength.