How to get rid of the habit of crunching fingers

Surely in your environment there is at least one fan of crunching your fingers: a family member, colleague, acquaintance. Or maybe you yourself love this occupation? After all, the habit of crunching fingers is very common: in this way, people try to calm themselves down, to adapt to a new place or to strangers more quickly. However, this habit is not as harmless as it is thought. It can not only cause negative emotions of others (some people crunch the joints very annoying), but also harm their own health. Therefore, it is necessary to get rid of it, and the sooner the better.

Physiology Crunch

Most often, the owners of this habit claim that the crunch of fingers helps them to feel more confident and more relaxed in an unusual situation. Also, this process helps them calm down and put their emotions in order.

Some of them believe in the myth that the crunch of the fingers helps to strengthen their own joints, becauseis a kind of training for them. Of course, this opinion is wrong and the exact opposite of reality. The habit of "kneading" the fingers in no way strengthens the joints: on the contrary, it leads to their gradual wear.

What happens to our fingers and joints when we crunch them? Pulling the bones apart we provoke a drop in pressure in the inter-articular (synovial) fluid that enters the joint. It consists of carbon dioxide and a small amount of nitrogen. As a result of its penetration into the joint, the gas turns into bubbles that begin to burst: it is these claps that we hear when we begin to crack with our fingers.

The effects of crunch

Prolonged exposure to the joints can result in a series of unpleasant painful conditions:

• swelling of the hands or the area around the joints;
• pain even at rest;
• pinching nerves;
• the appearance of a hygrom;
• weak hands, losing the former strength;
• sprains, subluxations and much more.

Can the habit of snapping fingers to cause arthritis, definitely can not be said.Some experts express a high degree of probability of such a development of events, while others deny its possibility. However, they all agree on the same opinion: people who have a genetic predisposition to diseases of the joints (including arthritis) are not very likely to crunch fingers with their fingers.

How to stop crunching fingers

Any habit is characterized by the fact that its implementation is brought to automatism. Therefore, the first thing to do is to realize the problem and constantly keep your consciousness “on”. More often than not, we do not notice that we began to click our joints until someone turned our attention to this. For this reason, you need constant concentration and control over your own hands. Every time, having caught yourself on the fact that you began to “knead” your fingers, stop this action with an effort of will.

Ask for help family members, friends and colleagues: let them make comments to you every time you barely start crunching your fingers.

Analyze when the habit takes you up. Surely these are stressful, emotionally saturated situations, becausecrunching fingers is in most cases a habit of a nervous nature. To make it easier to overcome, find other ways to cope with stress: drawing, picking up puzzles, handicrafts, carving or burning out. Sports training will give a good effect: they not only help withstand stress, but also increase self-confidence.

If you are different in sequence, then you can record all cases when you start crunching your fingers: write them in a notebook or, for example, in a mobile phone. Keeping such a diary for at least a week will make it possible to identify certain patterns in your behavior and it will be much easier to deal with a bad habit.

Help yourself by holding your hands in some way whenever the desire to crunch your joints comes closer: massage your fingers, squeeze a hand expander, twist small balls or cubes in your hands. Learn to twist the fingers of one hand a coin or pencil - this skill will help to distract from the thoughts of the crunch and cause excitement from others.

Try to include in your diet foods that contain phosphorus and calcium: fish, cottage cheese, nuts, legumes.This will help strengthen and repair the joints.

A person is capable of much, including overcoming his addictions. The main thing is not to hurry, because the older your habit is, the more time it will take to get rid of it.

Video: Do ​​Knuckles Crunch Hurt?