Abbey cracks her neck every morning
- Related Injuries: Neck
August 1, 2016
Hi, I woke up this morning and every morning I automatically crack my neck. I know it’s no good but it’s a habit. However when I was cracking my right side of neck. I felt and heard a different pop in the back of my neck, next to my spine and just before where my skull starts. I felt a sharp pain right there.
Now, I can’t turn my head without some kind of pain. If I tilt my head to the right there’s a very sharp pain right where I explained and it leads down to my shoulder. I can’t even yawn without it hurting. I’m afraid considering the pain is very close to my spine, but I hope it’s just sore.
Any idea what this could be?
Thank you
Abbey
August 1, 2016
Hi Abbey – nasty habit!
Thankfully there is no decent research that self clicking, whatever body part, will lead to long term damage, so whatever you’ve done is transient.
You’ve most likely over stretched and so bruised the lining of a joint in your neck, relatively high up. When you yawn you tip your chin up slightly and this compresses the joints at the top of our neck. These joints up here are also responsible for most of the rotation that occurs when you look over your shoulder or put your ear down to your shoulder.
So don’t panic – try to avoid any end range type stuff, especially stretching. Easy on the phone, tablet and slouchy laptop usage. Give 48 hours and you should be well on the mend.
The Guru
