Is It Safe to Crack My Neck?

Last updated on September 20, 2016 By Dan Baumstark, MSPT, CHT Leave a Comment

I was sitting in the car the other week with a friend who asked me if it was safe to crack his own neck. He demonstrated his maneuver: he grabbed his chin with one hand and the back of his head with the other and gave an extreme, rotational “jerk” to his neck. The popping was audible. I was horrified.

Your vertebral artery, which is a major blood supplier of the brain, runs along the side of the neck’s vertebrae in a small canal. Abruptly rotating the neck, especially if the neck is extended, can place stress on the vertebral artery. Doing this repeatedly over time has the potential to jar the vertebral artery loose and cause a rupture. You don’t need that to happen, regardless of how much relief you feel afterwards.

No, it is not okay to crack your neck.

About Dan Baumstark, MSPT, CHT

Dan is a licensed Physical Therapist in the District of Columbia, license #PT2916. He has a Masters of Science degree in Physical Therapy from Washington University in St. Louis, MO. Dan specializes in sports medicine & upper extremity rehabilitation. He is a Certified Hand Therapist, certified by the American Society of Hand Therapists (initial certification date 11/6/2004, certification #1041100023). Dan has extensive continuing education in manual therapy from the Michigan State University School of Osteopathic Medicine.
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