View Full Version : Cracking your neck - Whats the real dangers?
Alec McJo
19-11-2006, 04:11 PM
Any people on here that know about this kind of thing got an answer?
I crack my neck myself a bit, but I dont do it using my hands like some people cause to me that does seem obvious that it would damage you. I just roll it around and make it crack because it gets stiff and that seems to loosen it up. Although it still stays a little bit stiff.
My mum is always telling me to not do it as she reads it fucks your neck up later in life, and im starting to think she's probably right. But im not sure if she reads about ppl who do dum shit like grab their chin and back of their head and jerk their neck sideways as hard as they can, or do what I do and just roll it.
I seem to ALWAYS just have to do it when I wake up, even if i've only been sleeping for an hour. I get up and my neck is so stiff.
So, Is it bad for us people that do it? Should we just stop and bear the stiffness and maybe it will go away after a week or two or something??
:confused:
Lately, I have started accidentally cracking my wrists, elbows and knees., but I can do it on purpose. It doesn't hurt or anything. is a bit weird though. I'k not sure if it damages you in later life...
Josh
If you've got neck issues, go to your chiropracter and get it sorted, it could be something really simple but without getting it checked out, it could cause your probs later in life.
That said it may well be nothing.
Cracking bones (although afaik, its oxygen being "popped" out of a joint cavity...?) certainly isn't good for you. My knuckles are testament to that. I cracked them for years, and now they are falling to bits... beginnings of arthritis I assume, same goes for your neck man, treat it good now and it will treat you well later.
DJninja
19-11-2006, 04:26 PM
I can't see what damage it can do if you do it slowly but I have no authority on this so please correct me. The way i see it you only damage your neck if you do quick jerky motions as long as you roll it slowly you should be right I hope Im right because i crack my neck a lot aswell.
Alec McJo
19-11-2006, 04:31 PM
Probably should have added I did to a bit of internet searching, and I only got results on what happens when your cracking it with your hands.
Apparently doing it for a few years stretches out some things in your neck, which in turn makes it weak as piss in a few years time... or something along those lines I cant quite remember now, even though I only searched like 15 minutes ago (I do have tonsilitis and im very sick so dont get up me for bieng stupid :p )
Hopper
19-11-2006, 04:33 PM
Contrary to popular belief cracking your knuckles does not give you arthritis, I have heard this from both my physio and GP. I like you sometimes get a stiff neck and just roll my head around until it cracks then it's all good. If it is happening alot though I would probably get it checked out.
allstar
19-11-2006, 04:34 PM
i went to a chiropractor and he didnt do shit for me so now i go to an oestiopath (sp)? and his ALOT better and doesnt do any of that cracking stuff... having said that, i also crack my neck, i know it cant be good for me and i try to stop.. but dam it's hard.
Contrary to popular belief cracking your knuckles does not give you arthritis, I have heard this from both my physio and GP. I like you sometimes get a stiff neck and just roll my head around until it cracks then it's all good. If it is happening alot though I would probably get it checked out.
Im not convinced, the knuckles I have trouble with now are the knuckles I constantly cracked, thats enough evidence for me.
brisneyland
19-11-2006, 04:41 PM
Contrary to popular belief cracking your knuckles does not give you arthritis,
kinda. There's no evidence to suggest it does, nor is there much evidence to suggest it doesn't.
I don't reckon it does. Old wives tale (those bitches have a lot to answer for!)
Hopper
19-11-2006, 04:50 PM
The cracking sound is purely gas escaping the joint, there is no rubbing of bone or tendon. I guess you could do damage if when you crack them you strtch your fingers too far and then hyper exttend them.
brisneyland
19-11-2006, 05:27 PM
The cracking sound is purely gas escaping the joint,.
No, the sound is actually the joint capsule and ligaments stretching/snapping back. The joint is both fluid and airtight. Any kind of gas in any tissues is pretty much bad unless it's one of the body spaces connected to the outside world.
Booost
19-11-2006, 05:34 PM
[QUOTE=ajay;803074]Cracking bones (although afaik, its oxygen being "popped" out of a joint cavity...?) QUOTE]
Close. Its actually fluid rushing into your joint cavity
brisneyland
19-11-2006, 06:15 PM
No, its nitrogen gas escaping from the joints.
No, it's not.
|Matt|
19-11-2006, 06:19 PM
No, it's not.
http://www.wikihealth.com/Cracking_joints
"Most joint cracking is caused mostly by gases escaping from the joint. The synovial fluid in the joint acts as a lubricant. This fluid contains gases such as oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. When the joint cracks or pops, the joint capsule stretches, from which gas is released.
Another cause of cracking sound is from the movement of the joints, ligaments and tendons. When a joint moves the position of the tendon can change, when the tendor returns to its normal position, a sound is released. This is common in the ankle and the knee.
In order for the same joint to crack again, the fluid needs to return to it, which might take a little while"
No, its nitrogen gas escaping from the joints.
If you don't know what you're talking about, don't talk. If gas bubbles could escape from your joints then so could the lubricating fluid, for starters. :rolleyes:
are you debating that, or what effects it can have?
are you debating that, or what effects it can have?
Fair call, however I would postulate that what causes the cracking noise also has some bearing on whether it does any damage or not. Fluid moving around vs tendons snapping into place would obviously have to have slightly different effects.
chriscross
19-11-2006, 06:44 PM
i get problems with my knee's... well not problems more when i wake up i find it hard to walk so i bend it to 90 degrees and put it straight as fast as i possibly can. it makes a massive crack and each time i think to my self this really isn't good. i crack my knuckles as well. the get all stiff but it gives me an excuse.. i crack my neck when I'm bored, nervous or pumped up... hasn't done harm yet so i should be fine.... i hope.
i get problems with my knee's... well not problems more when i wake up i find it hard to walk so i bend it to 90 degrees and put it straight as fast as i possibly can. it makes a massive crack and each time i think to my self this really isn't good. i crack my knuckles as well. the get all stiff but it gives me an excuse.. i crack my neck when I'm bored, nervous or pumped up... hasn't done harm yet so i should be fine.... i hope.
Thats problem mate, it doest do any immediate damage, however when stack on a few years of knuckle cracking, you'll notice it.
McBain
19-11-2006, 06:58 PM
Go read stuff (from Scientific American):
http://www.sciam.com/askexpert_question.cfm?articleID=000852FC-73B0-1C71-9EB7809EC588F2D7
Quick summary, there's a bunch of reasons - most sound seems to be caused by gases coming out of solution from the synovial fluid, but it goes back into the solution. Some joint cracking can be bad, some doesn't seem harmful. Go figure.
Me, I like the relief I get from stretching/cracking various joints, but I try not to do it by partially dislocating joints (which I can do to my fingers).
Balfa_Oli
19-11-2006, 06:59 PM
it more the likely would do somehting to your neck.
if you get a really stiff neck go to a chripractor they're really good.
relieves any pain you have and they can find out all kinds of things.
oli
brisneyland
19-11-2006, 07:07 PM
http://www.wikihealth.com/Cracking_joints
Wow, reputable source, complete with typos and shitouse sentence structure.
I'll elaborate later, have exam tomorrow (a small part of which may well be rheumatology incidentally).
allstar
19-11-2006, 07:12 PM
it more the likely would do somehting to your neck.
if you get a really stiff neck go to a chripractor they're really good.
relieves any pain you have and they can find out all kinds of things.
oli
yes chiropractors can help for the short term but they dont completley fix the problem... i used to get an extremley sore back at times, especially after i rode. I had been going to the chiropractor religiously (once a week) for almost 2 months and yes he did fix the problem but by the next week the problem was back. I then heard from a friend about oestiopaths so decided to go to one, i went there twice the last time i went was around 3-4months ago and i still havent had a sore back since.
just my opinion but i found the oestiopath work 100000000000 times better than the chiropractor.
Hamsta
19-11-2006, 10:20 PM
Have you tried exercises to stretch muscles in your face, around your torso and neck?.
i haven't read the posts
but the problem i find is, the more i crack my fingers the stiffer they get.
my "theory" is when you crack them, the ligaments or whatever is around gets sore/inflammed so making them "repair" themselves with harder "compounds"....
does that even make sense...
its so god damn hard to explain...
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