What is the “crack” in a chiropractic manipulation
What is a chiropractor?
If you have ever been to the chiropractor, you would have received a chiropractic manipulation and heard the “crack” or “pop” that is normally associated with the technique.
A chiropractor is a medical professional that diagnoses and treats all conditions related to the neuromusculoskeletal system. A chiropractor uses a variety of different treatment techniques to relieve pain, one is the chiropractic manipulation.
In order to understand what causes the sound you must understand what a chiropractic manipulation is.
What is a chiropractic manipulation?
A chiropractor will palpate the spine and feel for a block of movement. This block of movement comes from a locked spinal facet (a spinal facet is a part of the vertebra that interlinks all the vertebra through the spine together). If the facets between two vertebra get stuck then movement becomes limited and that is often associated with pain. Once your chiropractor has located the locked facet, they will then perform a chiropractic manipulation in order to open/gap the stuck joint, returning movement and causing relief of pain.
What causes the “crack” or “pop” sound?
The sound of a chiropractic manipulation can be quite alarming and feel like your bones are being “cracked”. The sound of the manipulation does not actually come from the bones but from a release of nitrogen gas into the joint space.
How does this happen?
Surrounding the spinal joint is a substance called synovial fluid which contains dissolved gasses. When the joint is opened during the manipulation it causes a vacuum and the gas is sucked out of the fluid and into the open space, resulting in an audible sound. If there was no sound after a chiropractic manipulation, it does not mean that the manipulation was not successful but rather there was no sound made from the escaping gas.
Why you should not “crack your own neck or back”
When you “crack” your own spine, you are not isolating the exact stuck spinal segment and rather manipulating joints that are already mobile. This causes further tightening of the locked and immobile spinal joint and creating instability around previously healthy joints. Normally when you self-manipulate you feel short term relief followed by further tightness, as muscles start to tighten up around the joints to try and stabilize the instability created by the self-manipulation.
If you are experiencing neck and back pain, rather than self-manipulating, you can use heat therapy and stretching techniques to ease the tension. If this is not helping ease the tension, then make an appointment to see your chiropractor to safely correct the spine.
