Hey, El Paso!

This is Dr. David from El Paso Manual Physical Therapy.

I got a question from a new client who has neck pain.

She asked, “Is it okay if I pop my neck all the time?”

She went on to show me that she gets her chin and her head, like this, and will shove it really fast, and it’ll pop her neck.

She says that it feels better in her neck afterward.

The short answer that I gave her is, “No.”

It is NOT okay to be popping your neck like that, even if it makes you feel better.

She wanted to know why, so I gave her an explanation.

I detailed the Top 4 Reasons To Avoid Popping Your Neck if you’ve got neck problems.

And I wanted to share that with you right now.

Reason #1 – Locked Neck Joints.

If you pop your neck on your own, you run the risk of getting some of these joints in the neck stuck, and that can set you up to not be able to turn your head and neck all the way.

You might have had this before, you know of somebody that woke up, or all of a sudden couldn’t turn their head all the way.

They could turn all the way one direction but were stuck, and it was painful to go to the other direction, that’s a locked neck.

So if you pop your neck on your own, you run the risk of having that happen to you.

Reason #2 – Overstretched Joints, Ligaments & Tendons.

All those structures – joints, ligaments, and tendons – are found here in the neck.

Whenever you pop your neck on your own, you overstretch some of those ligaments, joints, and tendons.

That sets you up for a loss of stability, which is the beginning of arthritis, and degenerative joint disease, down the line, as we age.

So you want to make sure you have great joints, good ligaments, and great tendons as well.

Reason #3 – Headaches

Popping your neck on your own, and getting those loose joints in your neck, can set you up for headaches.

So if you find that you get headaches frequently, and you’re also popping your neck, it is a good idea to stop popping your neck.

That might help you reduce the headaches that you’re getting.

Reason #4 – Pinched Nerves

Those loose joints that you might develop if you’re popping your neck on your own all the time, can cause nerves to be pinched, and that can send pain down into the shoulder, the arm, even into the hand.

So if you find that you’ve got numbness, tingling in your hands, or pain in the arms, in addition to stiffness in your neck, you might be making it worse by popping your neck on your own.

What I recommend is get seen by an expert, and find out why your neck stiffens up, and you feel like you need to pop it.

That is not a good thing to be doing on your own.

Make sure you get some help from a neck expert, so that you can feel better.

It is possible to get your neck to the point where it’s not tight, it’s not stiff, and you don’t feel like you need to be popping it all the time, you just gotta know what to do.

And that’s what we help people out with here.

If you have any questions, call us at 915-503-1314 and we’ll be happy to answer them over the phone.

If you know of anybody that’s popping their neck on their own, please share this with them, tag them here, so that they can get this helpful information as well.

Have a great day!