To Crack Your Neck or Not To Crack Your Neck

Many people rely on neck cracking to help eliminate pain that they may be feeling in their joints. While this cracking, which is often accompanied with a popping sound, can help bring some relief and can be somewhat relaxing, there can actually be harm in doing it as well.

Side Effects of Cracking your Neck

There are many negative health concerns that can be experienced when you crack your neck. For starters, it can cause neck pain because it can actually decrease the mobility of your neck after some time. Since the cartilage is worn down during the cracking process, inflammation and neck pain can occur.

It can also lead to osteoarthritis in the future because it causes a great deal of stress on the joints. Ligaments are forced to stretch excessively and this can lead to instability of the bone bridges between the vertebrae. Eventually, this can lead to permanent damage and irreversible joint stabilization issues.

Studies have also shown that those who habitually crack their neck are at a greater risk of having a stroke at a younger age; younger than 60. This is because damage can occur to the blood vessels and cervical arteries that are near the neck and cause blood clots. While it is likely that a stroke caused in this manner will be minor, it can cause a great number of additional health concerns as well.

Relief

There are many things that you can do to receive the same benefit of neck cracking without going through the neck cracking process. Exercise is one of the best methods that you can use to eliminate issues with the joints. To exercise the muscles in your neck, you can lower your head until your chin touches your chest. Do this several times a day to help eliminate neck pain due to tight muscles.

Joint movement is also important when you are looking to eliminate the need to crack your neck. When your joints are not moving properly, they will be stiff and crack when you move them. However, by exercising muscles that are weak, you will strengthen them and inevitably eliminate these issues.

Lying down flat and using hot compresses are also helpful approaches to use when you feel pain in your neck. They can be done first thing in the morning to eliminate that morning stiffness you feel when you get out of bed.

Alternatives

Stretching is one of the best ways to loosen up your joints and helps you to crack your joints in the right way. You should seek a licensed chiropractor’s assistance to help you with your back pain as well.

Not only will your chiropractor be able to eliminate the need to crack your neck, but they will be able to offer you guidance as to the proper way to crack your joints and exercises that you can do to help eliminate neck pain. Even though cracking your neck can seem like a good idea at the time, there are many health risks to consider and you should avoid doing it at all costs.