Is Cracking Your Neck Bad for You?

Sometimes, it feels like you just can’t help it — like cracking your neck is the only thing that will relieve the pressure and make you feel, well, normal again. But is it safe? After all, that sound it makes does not always sound healthy, even if it feels good.

“If your neck cracks once or twice throughout the day, that’s natural,” says chiropractor Andrew Bang, DC. “But if that cracking becomes repetitive — every hour or every few minutes — that’s when it’s time to reevaluate.”

Dr. Bang explains what’s happening when your neck cracks, including whether it can injure you and how you can prevent that can’t-help-but-crack-it feeling in the first place.

What happens when you crack your neck?

Cracking your neck may sound like bones crunching or snapping, but rest assured that your skeleton remains intact. When you hear your neck crack, Dr. Bang says that one of three things is happening inside your body:

• You’re releasing negative pressure in a synovial joint. The cartilage where your joint bones meet is called a synovial joint, and it’s encased in a capsule full of synovial fluid that keeps things lubricated. “When we move that joint where it’s restricted, we create negative pressure inside the capsule,” Dr. Bang explains. “When it’s pulled apart, it makes that cracking sound.”
• Ligaments or tendons are moving. These types of connective tissue are attached to your bones. “Sometimes, the cracks you hear are actually ligaments or tendon ligaments rolling over each other,” he explains.
• Skin is separating from fascia. Below your skin is a layer of soft connective tissue called fascia, which acts as a barrier between your skin and muscles. When skin separates from fascia, it can make a crackly, popping sound, similar to but slightly different from cracking.

Is it bad to crack your neck?

A little bit of snap-crackle-popping is usually nothing to worry about. But forcing your neck to crack can lead to health issues, including:

• Joint instability. Repeatedly cracking your neck can, over time, cause the ligaments and tendons in your neck to become loose and less stable, which makes you more prone to injuries.
• Muscle strain. You can “pull a muscle” in your neck by cracking it too hard or cracking it incorrectly. Ouch!
• Pinched nerve. You could compress nerve roots in your neck and cause cervical radiculopathy, more commonly known as a pinched nerve. This temporary but painful condition can restrict your movements.
• Blood vessel injury. In very rare cases, the sudden movement of cracking your neck can cause a type of trauma called vertebral artery dissection — a tear in one or more of the layers of tissues that carry blood to your brain and spine. Vertebral artery dissection can decrease blood flow to your brain and put you at risk for a blood clot or stroke.

The occasional neck cracking can give you some temporary relief from pressure or pain. But it’s not something you should intentionally do too often. If you feel like you need to crack all the time, or if cracking causes pain, talk to a healthcare provider to figure out what’s behind it.

“Pain is an indication that it's time to do something,” Dr. Bang stresses.

Can you get arthritis from cracking your neck?

Cracking your neck doesn’t cause arthritis. But over time, constant cracking can permanently loosen and stretch your joints, known as ligament laxity. This may put you at risk of developing osteoarthritis.

“It’s not the popping itself that causes arthritis,” Dr. Bang clarifies. “It’s the effects of having a joint that’s become too loose.”

In general, your risk of developing osteoarthritis goes up as you get older because of normal wear and tear on your joints.

How to stop cracking your neck

To put an end to your neck-cracking habit, you need to first figure out why there’s so much pressure in your joints to begin with.

“We want to figure out why you feel the need to crack your neck all the time,” Dr. Bang muses. “What’s causing that pressure?”

Make some lifestyle changes

When it comes to neck pain, simple habit changes have the power to provide big-time relief. Your posture, desk setup and even the way you hold your cell phone can all contribute to neck pain and the desire to crack.

“Maybe we need to adjust your computer to monitor, or you need to start holding your cell phone at eye level instead of looking down in your lap,” Dr. Bang says. “Without that pressure on your joints, you won’t feel the same need to crack your neck.”

Address tight muscles

What if you make these changes and you still feel a too-frequent urge to crack? You may also need to address muscle tightness.

“Changing your positioning and stretching the connective tissue around your joints are both vital to not needing to crack so much,” Dr. Bang notes. “Stretch your neck muscles front to back and side to side to help release some of that tension and, again, relieve the need to crack.”

Should you see a chiropractor?

If you feel compelled to crack your neck a lot, it’s best to talk to a professional instead of continually doing it yourself. Chiropractic adjustment may help relieve pressure and increase your range of motion.

But Dr. Bang cautions that adjustments shouldn’t be done too often, or they can cause the very joint looseness you’re trying to avoid. He says once a week is standard.

“If someone is telling you that you need to see them to get adjusted three or four times a week, there’s a problem,” Dr. Bang warns, “because that’s going to create too much joint laxity in those areas.”

You can take some of the pressure off your neck by making lifestyle changes and relieving muscle tightness. But if that need to crack just won’t go away, it’s time to talk to your primary care provider. They can, shall we say, get crackin’ on figuring out how to treat your neck issues in a safe and healthy way.