A patient with neck pain said, “can you just crack my neck? I feel like it just needs to be cracked.”
The patient tells me that this happens often, so they know the feeling. And when felt, cracking it usually fixes it, for a bit at least.
Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels
So although yes, I can perform a technique that does what they asked for, it is probably not the cure for the issue. Since it happens often, and the relief is temporary, cracking the neck is probably just masking the symptom of something else.
Just like scratching an itch may only temporarily make you feel good, but will not make the itch go away forever if you have some skin sensitivity or condition. In fact, you’d probably just end up with broken skin if scratching the itch is your go to solution. And you can end up with a over-stretched, irritated neck if cracking it is your go to answer.
Physical therapy examination found that the patient, although they likes working out with weights and staying active, has a very stiff thoracic spine (mid back). When the patient looks around, the torso is rather rigid and does not move. The neck does all the movement.
This leads to stretched out neck ligaments and joints. The body, in its attempt to stabilize the neck, will cause the muscles to tense up to compensate for loose ligaments. The solution to this person’s discomfort turns out quite counterintuitive:
don’t crack the neck
don’t stretch the neck
use a foam roller to loosen the mid back
perform exercises to improve the flexibility of the mid back
In addition, I applied some kinesiotape to help the neck feel supported, allowing the nervous system to let the neck muscles relax. This allowed the current discomfort to calm down and let the patient have a chance to perform their new homework.
It took a bit of time to loosen up the mid back, but the patient felt a difference each time the homework was performed. After a few months of working on the middle back on their own, they’ve cured their “itch” for neck cracking!