These sounds can often occur due to air escaping the fluid surrounding the joints or from tight tendons rubbing or snapping against the bones.
As a standard precaution, anyone experiencing concerning symptoms such as pain, dizziness, lightheadedness, numbness, tingling, or other troubling symptoms after neck cracking should consult a qualified health professional immediately.
Neck crepitus may go through some periods where it occurs more often than others. For example, neck cracking and grinding might occur frequently for a few days and then go away.
If you constantly feel the need to crack your neck, it's likely because you have hypermobility, or a larger than normal range of motion, in your neck joints. Self-cracking only affects the least resistant joints. However, the joints that are really stuck remain so.
Chiropractic care is unlike any other and is by far the best way to correct the problem of neck pain and/or crepitus-crackling.
The cracking, clicking or popping noise is caused when the facet joints in the spine are opened up in the course of the manipulation. The process is just as it is when your knuckles or your knees click.
"Uneven skin texture is commonly a result of excess dead skin cells that build up on the surface of the skin. This can make areas of the skin feel rough or bumpy to the touch and can also give the skin a dull appearance," explains board-certified cosmetic dermatologist Paul Jarrod Frank, MD.
Most people notice neck skin beginning to significantly sag and wrinkle around the age of 40. That's also when underlying platysmal muscles start to detach and loosen, their edges showing through thinning skin as vertical bands from the chin to collarbone.
When you look down at the floor or up at the ceiling, you are stretching your neck. Over the years, all this stretching, along with the loss of collagen and elastin — two naturally occurring proteins — can cause the neck to age faster than the face.
There is an abundance of blood vessels in your neck that can be damaged by continuous cracking. These vessels carry blood to, and away from your brain, so forceful and constant neck cracking can increase your risk of stroke by damaging these vessels.
As long as you visit a trusted, experienced chiropractor, you can rest assured that the neck adjustments you receive are safe and effective. Here are the benefits of treating neck pain with chiropractic care: Relieve chronic pain and stiffness at the source. Find relief without taking medication or undergoing surgery.
A qualified upper cervical chiropractor adjusts your neck using very precise manual or instrument assisted adjustments — some table-mounted and some handheld. These instrument-assisted neck adjustments are very safe, very precise, and very comfortable.
Using an elliptical machine, stationary bike, or doing squats or lunges are great ways to build up strength in your legs and knees. Consider taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Never skip a workout warm-up. If you exercise and your muscles are cold, you risk injury.
Physical therapy is a great option for treating minor to moderate neck crepitus. A physical therapist can examine your shoulders, neck and head to determine the root cause of the crepitus. Then, they'll build you a personalized treatment plan designed to address that root cause.
While most crepitus is harmless, some forms of crepitus signal a problem. If the popping or crunching sound comes with pain, you should see a doctor to evaluate the cause.
Depending on the extent of the spinal injury, patients typically feel a reduction in pain of 40-80% following their first visit. However, general improvement occurs within 1 to 4 weeks from the start of chiropractic therapy.
Common Chiropractic Adjustment Frequencies
To achieve maximum benefits, most injury and pain types will need somewhere between four and twelve sessions. Ongoing maintenance is used to prevent pain from coming back and to prevent additional injuries from forming due to a misalignment of the spine.
When you are just starting a new treatment plan, it's common to have adjustments multiple times a week. As your body begins to heal, that number could drop to just once a week. And if you are pain-free and simply want to maintain your lifestyle, you might only need to get an adjustment once or twice a month.
Although it may feel good, repetitive and habitual back cracking can actually be detrimental to your health. It can stretch the ligaments around the spine, allowing excessive movement, joint instability, and an unstable body which can lead to further injuries.
Serious complications associated with chiropractic adjustment are overall rare, but may include: A herniated disk or a worsening of an existing disk herniation. Compression of nerves in the lower spinal column. A certain type of stroke after neck manipulation.
The high velocity thrust used in cervical manipulation can produce significant strain on carotid and vertebral vessels. Once a dissection has occurred, the risk of thrombus formation, ischemic stroke, paralysis, and even death is drastically increased.
Living in cold, windy conditions or low-humidity climates. Too much bathing or scrubbing. Taking long, hot showers or baths or scrubbing your skin too much can dry your skin. Bathing more than once a day can remove the natural oils from your skin too.