Neck Cracking – Why Is This Bad for You?

More than often we witness neck cracking scenes in movies where tough guys crack their neck, which is followed by a series of cracking sounds as a person keeps twisting his neck. While this might look enticing in a film, real life experiences with neck cracking might not be really cool.

Neck cracking is usually associated with pain. There are loads of individuals who experience neck cracking feeling in their day to day lives. Basically, our neck contains many muscles and bones which make head movement a cake walk for us. When an individual cracks his head it releases fluid or gas within the joints surrounding the neck area. The immediate production of temporary vacuum which is filled by gas causes the cracking sound.

If a person feels a constant urge to crack his/her neck then the person is experiencing hypermobility in his/her joints. Hypermobility implies more than the usual range of motion. More than often, the body part which is least resistant is cracked, which is why a person feels a constant urge to crack that body part.

Neck cracking causes lots of pressure on your joints which leads to the stretching of the ligaments to unstable levels. Constant neck cracking can lead to perpetual instability. When an individual develop perpetual instability then the joint tends to grow a bridge bone between our two vertebrae, thus leading to a condition called ‘osteoarthritis’. Osteoarthritis is a serious and irreversible condition.

Some studies have also unleashed the fact that neck cracking can result into strokes amongst individuals below the age group of 60. Individuals who have a habit of neck cracking are more prone towards developing stroke. Also, there have been cases of blood clotting due to neck cracking. Blood clothing can have hazardous consequences on your health as it can deprive the oxygen supply to the brain.

If practiced often, neck cracking is also responsible for less mobility in our neck. Each time your neck is cracked it results into wear and tear of the cartilage present in your vertebrae. This can also lead to neck arthritis in the near future.

It’s advisable to perform neck cracking under expert supervision. When neck cracking is done by expert chiropractors, you are reducing your chances of injury as most of them are aware about the extent to which your joint should be pulled.

As such, there are many views on neck cracking. Some individuals live under the notion that neck cracking is not a major issue. However, as you see this notion is far from truth.

As such, one can reverse the damage caused by neck cracking to a great extent by performing muscle toning neck exercises. If you suspect a stroke, it’s advisable to consult a health care professional as soon as possible. The most probable symptoms of stroke are dizziness, immobility, blurred vision and headache. Remember, neck cracking can cause permanent damage to your body, which is why one needs to exercise great caution before performing this act.

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  1. It sounds very scary; 'crack your neck and all these things will happen'. Yet as it stands, the damage (if any) casued by joint cracking is not known or fully understood. The idea that bone will grow between two vertebrate without being fractured is news to me, and I keep myself up to date on the matter. This article has been written with no explanations as to why joint cracking leads to such a variety of ailments, not even any links or references to texts that would explain the relationship between cracking and illness.

  2. I have heard some of these claims before, however agree with other comments that there is no scientific prove provided here. The source of the article is the website. Not to mention the fact that it is poorly written changing from firs to third person.

  3. Not persuading anyone but I've done it for years. I'm not having any issues right now. I hope I never will. Just be careful guys.

  4. I am 20 year old and have been cracking my neck since no age. I actually think that I am addicted.

    Should I be worried about this, I don't really feel the urge to do it, it's just a bad habit of mine.

  5. I am writing in here to let you all know that my 24 year old daughter has just been confirmed to have had a stroke from cracking her neck. She was talking to me when she did it and all of a sudden grabbed her head and said it hurt really bad. She then told me that she couldn't feel her right side and while trying to move her right leg, she couldn't and then fell forward into her lap. I called 9-11 and by the time the paramedics arrived she was unresponsive. She is currently in the hospital and will now be undergoing therapy as she has lost her ability to read/comprehend words and has lost half of her vision in her right eye. She has mobility on her right side but still feels as if it is "asleep" with pins and needles… think twice before you decide to crack your neck. This truly is a scary and serious issue!!

  6. When I crack my neck I sometimes get a shooting pain in my right arm and other parts of my body. It does not occur normally just rare times.

  7. It's been demonstrated many times again and again in scientific and medical literature that there is absolutely no association between joint cracking and arthritis.

  8. I hate how you use phrases like "unleashed the fact" and "as you see, this notion is far from the truth" when you don't quote or reference a single article or study in the publication. As the first comment stated, there hasn't been any significant research to show that popping joints leads to arthritis so if you have some, please share.

    On a separate note, I find it hard to take any publication seriously when words are misspelled or grammar is incorrect. Proof read your work at least, come on. "Blood clothing"? It takes 5 minutes.

  9. There is no supporting documentation or research, this seems to be mainly opinion based. The information may or may not be accurate.

  10. Everyone is asking for the scientific data that cracking is bad, and I can’t come up with a reason why there isn’t any, except that there is and it’s just not being reported. They tell you it won’t cause arthritis so you’ll keep doing it, suffer the consequences, and come back for more and more “treatment.” I’m here to tell you that after fifteen years of neck cracking, I’ve worn down the cartilage so thin that now my neck creaks every time I turn my head. I’ve also got massive bone spurs, not only on my neck, but on my tailbone, that I would pop several dozen times a day. I’m telling you, this is harmful. Please, for your health, stop it. By the time “science” catches up to the damage you will do, it is going to be too late. I have stopped my neck habit and am stopping the tailbone, but I think it’s already too late.

  11. These articles perpetuate information without evidence as the answer instead of the theory. There are no sources named, and no attempt to answer the questions posed to provide the sources.

    Also, a person’s experience without proof that popping is the cause of an issue is pure conjecture. You could have genetic reasons or other injuries in your past that could equally be the reason for spurs, pain, etc. The fact is, you can’t prove it, so it isn’t a fact. It’s sad that a person’s own need to feed the hubris is greater than ones need to vet sources before opening the mouth. Just because you can speak doesn’t mean you should.

    Either prove it or be gone.

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