Do you crack your own back often? Maybe you do it at work or home when you start to feel stiff after staying still for a long period of time. You might wonder why you do it. Is it good for you or are you hurting yourself?

As a practicing chiropractor of around 20 years, I have seen hundreds to thousands of people who crack their backs regularly. I’ve seen people who do it as often as every two minutes to once every few days.

Does it feel good? I have no doubt that it does, but cracking your back comes, in my opinion, at a high cost, a cost I personally wouldn’t pay. Keep reading to find out why.

What is back cracking?

Firstly, let’s address what the actual ‘pop’ or ‘crack’ noise is. If you didn’t know, you might think it was bones breaking or cracking, but it’s nothing like that at all. The pop sound comes from a transfer of gas in the joint. It’s similar to the sound that’s made when you release a suction cup, open a can of tennis balls or even Pringles for that matter.

The sound in and of itself is completely harmless whether you do it yourself or if it is done by a chiropractor. But there is a big difference between doing it yourself and leaving it to a professional.

Why do you feel the urge to crack your back?

So where does the urge to crack your back come from? It often comes from feeling tightness in the joints or muscles. This tightness could come from joints that have become stuck, inflamed or damaged. Muscle tightness could also result in this feeling.

Poor posture at work, poor sleeping posture and repetitive activities are common culprits to back cracking. People feel this irritation and want to do something about it. Some people stretch. Others move around, have a walk around, change posture or position. Others try to crack their back themselves. All of these methods may provide you with relief, however performing them without the instructions of a professional may come at a cost.

Is cracking your back harmful?

From what I have found over the years, when people try to crack their backs themselves, they may move or release the wrong joint. Instead of cracking and moving the correct joint in the correct direction at the correct time, they usually cause movement in a joint that doesn’t necessarily need to be moved.

It is typically easier to crack joins that don’t need to be moved. If this is repeated too often, the joints that were originally unproblematic may start to become looser, while the dysfunctioning joint remains stuck. You can imagine how this will cause a problem.

As a result of incorrectly addressing their problem, individuals may feel the urge to continue to crack their back. Cracking your back may provide you with a short period of relief, however this period of relief will usually gradually become shorter as the problem continues. All the while, your joints may also become even more problematic.

This is the stage in which I most often treat my patients. After 20 years of dealing with this problem, I’ve found chiropractic adjustments to the joints that need them, and have helped relieve my patients of pain and discomfort while also reducing my patients’ back-cracking urges. After adding in some stretches and exercises, and correcting a few bad habits, I have found this to be highly beneficial. In the case that my patients feel the urge to crack their backs again, I advise they do some of the stretches in the exercise program I provide.

Video: Should you be cracking your back?