How to crack your own back.
It’s this time of year when many clinics are closed, and people often wonder how they can click their own back if they are struggling to get in and see their regular Chiropractor.
A lot of clients come to us and say, “I often click my back. Is this a bad or a good thing? When I do it, it feels good for a while. But the problem does come back.”
What is happening when you crack your own back?
Let’s first start by talking about the spine and its integral makeup as to how you can physically click your own back.
Book a free consultation with West Chiropractic Today >
There are two joints either side of the vertebra which called synovial joints. They have a ligament around them which has a fluid inside them, filled with nitrogen gas.
When the ligament is stretched, the nitrogen gas will diffuse through the ligament and creates a popping sound. The actual movement of the joint is what is needed to relieve pressure on the spine to allow the nerves to flow effectively and efficiently.
The popping sound is just a by-product of the movement. When you do this yourself, you’re moving a joint that doesn’t necessarily need to be moved. It’s being stretched to its absolute limit and then it’s starting to release the gas.
If you move this joint repeatedly, it will become more flexible, and it will often lead to something called hypermobility. Hypermobility is a problem in the spine because it leads to instability through the spine and causes other areas to take up more stress.
All the while, the joint that does need to be moved is the one that you can’t move yourself and that’s the one that Chiropractors locate and call a subluxation. That is a hypomobile joint and the body needs to move that joint so that everything flows and functions properly.
Chiropractors are trained specifically to understand how those joints move, which ones aren’t moving properly, and which ones are moving too much. We only move the joints that aren’t moving enough to restore proper function through the spine.
When the proper function is restored, this means you will feel less need to crack your back and putting less pressure on your body. If you keep on cracking your back repeatedly, the joints get more and more hypermobile, and it causes more problems and it means the relief you get from it is much more short-lived and causes long-term problems with the spine as well.
Is it the same as cracking your knuckles?
No, because cracking the knuckles, the knuckles are a hinge joint whereas the vertebra are a synovial joint and move in all different directions. They’re also load-bearing as well. So, if you start to get problems with the load-bearing joint, particularly in the back, it can cause long-term stability issues.
The fingers are hinge joints. They don’t take up load. So, cracking one of the joints doesn’t cause as severe long-term issues or arthritic issues with the spine. It is still not good for you though and I wouldn’t recommend doing it.
Book a free consultation with West Chiropractic Today >
Find our FAQs here >
What we treat at West Chiropractic:
Our chiropractic locations
