Cracking joints can feel satisfying. Most of us have done it! We’ve even talked about it before on this blog.
That satisfying pop (cavitation) is quite harmless and is caused by gas being displaced within the joint cavity. It’s very common and almost everyone has experienced a painless cracking in their knuckles or other joints.
Cracking knuckles can even become something of a habit – luckily, it’s not the cause of arthritis.
But there’s one area of the body that chiropractors advise you never to crack or adjust for yourself: the neck.
Don’t Overstretch The Neck!
Your neck joints can certainly be made to pop (we see it all the time in the tough guys of Hollywood films!). The problem is that although the ligaments holding the joints and muscles together are strong, they’re also delicate.
Your chiropractor will examine the integrity of those ligaments both before and after your adjustment to make sure everything’s as it should be. And you’ll notice that our specialists only move your neck within a very particular range of motions.
- When you twist your neck beyond its normal range, you’re likely to overstretch and strain the ligaments and the neck joints.
- Doing this repeatedly (when it’s turned into an unconscious habit, for example) can cause those ligaments to relax and ultimately to loosen.
- Loose ligaments impact how well the structures of the neck work together in everyday life but in the event of trauma to the neck, such as a hard fall or a car accident, they become especially problematic.
Here’s a video with some useful advice on how to look after your neck .
And, of course, don’t forget to come in for a check up with our neck pain experts here at Sundial.