I’ve been an insatiable knuckle cracker my entire life. I remember being told all the time it would cause arthritis.

Glad to hear it probably doesn’t.

It does feel like a release to me, which if it is “similar to a popping balloon,” holds some merit.

I learned, to a lot of delight, to crack the “third” joint of my thumb, sometime in high school. It’s something I often spontaneously do.. anyone I’d be holding hands with. They invariably get a little creeped out. Then ask me to do the other one.