Ever get a crick in your neck and think that just a good crack would make a difference?
It does feel like the natural thing to do, especially when you know that cricks in your back can be helped with a good crack-inducing stretch but according to one doctor, this is the last thing you should be doing to your neck.
Why you shouldn’t crack your neck
Giving a ‘storytime’ on TikTok, Ever Arias, MD said that a 20 year old patient walked into the emergency room and said she had tried to crack her neck. Upon the second crack, she heard a snap and started having “a lot of pain”.
Following an examination and being scanned, doctors uncovered that the patient had a “cervical compression fracture” and Arias says that, “basically, she also was found to have a diagnosis of hypermobility syndrome.”
For this patient, this meant that she was very mobile and had actually flexed her neck “a little bit too much” and started having the compression fracture.
While not everybody will find themselves in this specific situation, the M.D is keen to emphasise that cracking your neck is never a good idea, even if it is done by a chiropractor.
This is because you could put yourself in “a couple of situations”. Arias says that he’s met patients who have suffered strokes after previously having a chiropractor manipulate their neck, resulting in a vertebral artery dissection — which is when a tear forms in one or more layers of your vertebral artery — which caused the stroke.
The doctor urges that if you do go to see a chiropractor, ask them to not touch your neck and don’t try to crack your own, either, as you can cause your own vertebral artery dissection or injuries to the blood vessels in the neck.
How to prevent neck pain
According to the NHS, the best ways to avoid neck pain are:
- when sleeping, make sure your head is the same height as the rest of your body
- have a firm mattress
- sit upright – roll your shoulders back gently and bring your neck back
do not keep your neck in the same position for a long time – for example, when sitting at a desk
do not sleep on your front
do not twist your neck when you’re in bed