What Happens When You Crack Your Own Spine?

You’ve seen people do it, maybe you even do it yourself. Cracking your own spine. Grandmothers everywhere will tell you that it gives you arthritis. Some of you are what we would call, “addicted to crack”. Bending yourself over the back of a chair or twisting your own neck. All of these may help you feel better, but ask the majority of people who do this and they will tell you that it feels like it needs to “pop” again within a short period of time. So what actually happens when you crack your own spine?

This is likely the case because the joints that are actually making the popping noise are the ones above and below the main restriction, which are what we call “hyper” mobile joints. They are actually moving too much in order to compensate for the restricted joint in between. It may feel good temporarily but will usually not last long.

You see, there are 24 moving vertebrae in your spine (7 neck, 12 mid back, 5 low back). You can consider a group of 2 or more of these vertebrae to be a “motion segment”. Cracking your own spine helps the “motion segment” move a bit more, but the original restriction likely will remain, causing relapse of symptoms and allowing future problems to occur.

The other reason for this short term relief is that we are not able to impart the right forces at the right angles on ourselves to fully clear the joints of the restriction, you might get a pop releasing some of the gas in the joint but it did not fully move.

Are there any potential risks involved with cracking your own spine?

Yes there are. Let’s start with the obvious being that chiropractors have studied and practiced for years the art, science, and philosophy of the spinal adjustment and is at the heart of what most of us do, making us the experts in this field. Knowing when, how, where, and why to adjust is extremely important.

Given years and years of cracking your own spine, there is a potential to create ligamentous instability which would allow for your spine to be susceptible to a multitude of more serious injuries and permanent damage.

Yours in optimal health,

Dr. Glenn Ezell

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