Cracking neck muscles

A Dangerous Encounter

In many action movies which involve fighting and violence, there is usually a small ritual which the actors perform before they engage into the encounter. Basically, during the preparations, some actors make their neck crack, moving it physically, releasing a scale of frightening, unnatural popping sounds.

Even though this can look good on the TV, it is a far cry from healthy when it comes to real life. Namely, cracking neck is a sign of serious joint problems. Usually, if your neck pops from time to time, without you provoking it, you have nothing to worry about since this is natural. However, if you have a nasty habit of forcing your neck to crack, you might be seriously damaging the joints you have in the area.

Why Does Our Neck Crack?

Once you move your neck in an unnatural position abruptly, you are triggering a reaction from your ligaments, which stretch. However, a temporary vacuum gets created in the area due to the pressure created from the tension. In the vacuum, the joint fluid becomes gas. Then, due to an increase of the pressure, the popping sound is heard. Thus, if your neck is popping or cracking, you might have issues with proper motions this part of your body should perform.

Why Do We Cause This?

If you happen to be one of many people who feel the urge to move their necks, producing the cracking sound, you might be experiencing a case of joint hypermobility. This indicates that your joints can move more than the joints of some other people. Nevertheless, in the long run, this is not healthy.

Namely, the ligaments in your neck may get damaged by the process, potentially leading to permanent instability. Subsequently, our body may develop an additional bone between our two vertebrae. On the other hand, we might develop osteoarthritis or trigger a stroke, especially if we are older than 60. We have arteries in our neck which may be pressed and pinched during our unnatural neck movements, resulting in cut of blood supply to the brain and a subsequent stroke. Finally, some chiropractics even believe that voluntary neck cracking is good for you. Still, be careful and do not overdo it.

Therefore, if you are completely unable to restrain yourself from popping your neck, you should visit a doctor and seek advice. Nevertheless, remember that this process may be very dangerous and use this information as motivation for cessation of your unnatural actions.