Crack. Snap. Yawn. Bite. Belch. Snort. Grind. In a context where exams, papers and the rigors of having a productive social life grate on students' nerves, certain crutches can be invoked to deal with the stress. But just how dangerous are these little quirks? And what happens when these tendencies stop being causal and become habitual?
Well, for starters, it feels good,\ UW-Madison sophomore Ashley Adam said of her habit of back and joint cracking. Adam, who said she ""cracks"" a lot, traced her habit back to elementary school. ""My brother did it, and one time he was like, ‘hey try this' and he told me it would hurt the first few times but that it would feel better soon,"" Adam said.
However, according to John Haase, Doctor of Chiropractic at Haase Chiropratic, 4200 University Ave., the physiology behind joint cracking goes deeper than simply ""feeling good.""
""They feel uncomfortable at first,"" he said, ""That's how it starts. The reason people crack their knuckles or their backs or their knees or anything else, is that they feel some kind of irritation. You do it and it feels a little better ... However, if it becomes a habit then what'll happen is you get a little laxity and it may affect the joints around it.""
That effect, according to Haase, is that relieving the stress in one area can simply transfer irritation to another part of the body—what he calls a ""kinetic chain,"" as the nearby ligaments react and compensate for the laxity of the newly cracked joint.
""So if you affect something up in your neck you're ultimately going to affect what happens in your low back and visa versa,"" he said.
Additionally, although Haase said cracking is no longer perceived to cause arthritis, it can have other dangerous side effects.
""We used to think it used to give you arthritis. That's not true, and we know now that's not true,"" he said. ""So here's the bottom line. If you hyperextend the joint, and that's what you do when you crack your knuckles ... you actually start to stretch the ligament. If you do it everyday, day in and day out, it'll actually stretch further than the normal physiologic range. If you do that it becomes sloppy.""
The effect of this over-stretching can lead to problems with things like catching a ball, due to an ""inability to hold that joint tightly.""
However, breaking the habit can be as simple as caring for your joints on a day-to-day basis.
""Wellness care starts with a healthy spinal posture and spinal flexibility,"" he said. ""So it's pretty simple; when your posture's good your muscles don't strain the joints.""
UW-Madison sophomore Daniel Lupton grinds his teeth, but he has no idea why.
""I don't do it on purpose,""
he said. ""It just kind of happens. ... I'd stop if I could. Sometimes I probably do it when I'm under physical stress, too, but I don't really know why.""
According to Dr. Tanner McKenna of Lakeview Dental, 1410 Northport Drive, Daniel's predisposition to inadvertent grinding is fairly normal.
""People start grinding their teeth probably more because of subconscious things, such as stress,"" she said. ""There's not much that you can do [to stop the habit].""
The good news is that although there is no panacea for teeth grinders, there are treatments. A bite guard can be worn over the teeth like a retainer to take the brunt of a grinder's jaw-clenching force, but they are not the most convenient items. Lupton says he frequently forgets to use his, and an anonymous UW-Madison freshman said ""it's like a molar condom.""
But the danger of not taking this preventive measure can be quite great.
""It can wear your teeth down at an accelerated rate,"" McKenna said. ""I've seen people who have had their teeth literally worn down to almost the gum line in some cases.""
In cases like this, reconstructive surgery—what McKenna called ""full mouth rehabilitation""—is usually required, a procedure that involves crowns, implants and bridges to restore the teeth to their natural height.
Although his pain is infrequent, Lupton said he has noticed tightness in his jaw that stems from his grinding habit, something McKenna believes is another common side effect. She said the jaws of some people simply develop with a predisposition to grinding, and among those individuals, a high variance exists. Some people develop strong, muscular jaws while grinding down their enamel and others are predestined to more acute pains.
A good rule of thumb: ""Your teeth should really only touch when you're chewing, when you're eating food,"" she said. ""It takes muscles to pull your lower jaw up to touch your upper jaw, [so] even if you're not fully clenching you still are requiting muscles to fire and to contract and that can make things real sore.""
UW-Madison freshman Emma Shaper considers herself a full-fledged procrastinator.
""I had this psychology research paper due. I got the research done early and I knew basically what I was going to say, but once I got that far I just didn't want to actually write my paper,"" she said. ""So, I put it off and then stayed up until 5 [a.m.] writing it the night before it was due.""
Such a scenario, according to Joan Gilman, director of special industry programs in UW-Madison's School of Executive Education, often stems from prioritizing problems.
""Sometimes things aren't a priority and therefore we procrastinate on them,"" she said, adding that a tendency to procrastinate usually occurs because ""sometimes we get rewarded for it and then we do more of it.""
Shaper believes procrastination snuck up on her in such a manner.
""It's been a gradual thing. I've always not done my daily assignments until later in the day. Then, when I got bigger assignments I'd do them in huge stretches the day or two before they were due,"" she said.
However, procrastination isn't necessarily always a bad thing.
""Some people procrastinate because there's an adrenaline rush when you have to do things at the last minute,"" she said. ""Then the pressure's on; then there's a real satisfaction and people like that last minute feeling, pressure to get something done.""
Procrastination becomes more of a worry, she said, when people aren't able to deal with that stress. As she cautions, the 25th hour is not for all people.
""If you don't like that adrenaline rush ... then it's best not to procrastinate,"" she said.
Gilman said the best way to overcome procrastination is through following personal—rather than mandatory—deadlines, and the rewarding of an internal urge to change.
""Reward yourself for doing things within a timeframe. Set up a timeline for a project and then reward yourself for meeting those deadlines that you've set,"" she said. ""If you reward yourself for doing things in a timely fashion, you're much more likely to accomplish your goals.""
However, these three habits are simply drops of tendency water in the dependence ocean. Whether it's joint cracking, nail biting, hair pulling or a unique stress-reliever of your own, almost everyone has a bad habit. Luckily, though, there are a couple of general steps, according to Dr. Rae Schilling of the UW Health Eau Claire Family Medicine Clinic, that can help anyone overcome their vices.
First, says Schilling, visualize things to do instead of your bad habit.
""Start with looking at what you'd rather do instead of focusing on what's wrong,"" she said. ""Focus on what's right and how to get more of it.""
Secondly, define where you want to be in respect to your crutch.
""If you want a new reality you have to define what that would be,"" she said, adding that it is important to think about ""what would I be doing instead of this [habit].""
And lastly, remember to work slowly. Longstanding habits will not be changed in one night. Taking it slow, according to Schilling, will increase your confidence and raise your chance of success.
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