By Paul on Friday, June 02, 2000 - 12:47 pm:

Happy New Year, all. I asked my doctor, who diagnosed me with
hypermobility whether I should crack my neck, back, and
shoulders when they feel misalligned. His response below is
contrary to chiropractors, orthopeadists, physical therapists I have
seen, who say that cracking makes it worse. Who is right? (I should note that
I have an "unstable" injured right collar bone which may account for some of the skeletal instability)
Thanks.

Hello Paul:

One should always try to maintain alignment (balance and moderation in all
things), so prompt corrective action is warranted. this makes sense. the
longer "things" are twisted the more the tissues are abnormally stretched
leading to pain which then becomes amplified by the continued
mal-alignement.

By Sue C on Friday, June 02, 2000 - 12:50 pm:

I've heard varying opinions about cracking joints. Some say it "causes" arthritis; others say it's perfectly harmless because it's just nitrogen gas bubbles.

Like everything else, do what you think is best for your situation. (Personally, I need to crack my joints to regain full, pain-free range of motion -- and then some.)

By Laura on Saturday, October 21, 2000 - 08:46 am:

Thanks you've just my question! I'm seventeen and been cracking my fingers for years, I was always told that I would get arthritis. I never believed them.

I have also been to a chiropractor about my migraines and found they were caused by tightened vertebrae in my neck (caused by stress). She losen my neck but now it's loose I feel the need to crack it. Thank you for reasuring me that it's ok to crack my neck. Do you think this has happened now because there is more space in between the vertebrae for gases to accumulate?

I also have the same tightness in the lowest vertebrae in my back which tilts my pelvis and traps nerves going into my right hip causing a lot of pain. With my phisio and chiropractor I can walk properly with no pain now.

thanks for listening. Laura

By Patty on Monday, October 23, 2000 - 11:46 pm:

Laura, I used to go to the chiropractor all the time and never stayed in place, especially my SI and neck. Since I started getting deep tissue massage, I haven't needed the chiro! I am taking less than a quarter of the Tramal that I was taking before. The massage releases the gases without cracking anything. The therapists describe it as "popping" as the gases are released from the deep tissues. They do have to be careful, though, because they can go so much deeper on us EDSers than the rest of the population.
My biggest problem with the chiros is that I am so flexible that many are unable to make anything move!
My therapist has spent special time on my SI joints. Once that was lined up just by getting my muscles to work right instead of pulling the wrong way, the rest of my spine has stayed in place. My therapist told me that many insurance companies will pay for massage if the doctor orders it.

By Becky on Saturday, January 26, 2002 - 02:25 pm:

i suffer from HMS, and have done for the last three or four years, and i hav found cracking my joints a fairly effective way to releive pain and stiffness in them. My friend though hasnt got HMS, but does click her neck. As she suffered from constant and painful headaches she saw a chiropractor, who diagnosed her with having loose ligaments in her neck, as a result of her clicking. i have not suffered with any side effects from clicking my joints, but since my friend has i'm sceptical as to whether it is the answer for everyone.

By Robyn on Tuesday, January 29, 2002 - 07:57 pm:

Hi Becky..
I can relate to what happened to your friend. 7 years ago I had a bout of headache. I learned that if I cracked my lumbar (si joints) I could relieve the headache. I began seeing a chiro who cracked me 3x a week... because I was having trouble doing it myself. Well..sadly - I suddenly realized that I had a new problem. I ended up with sever spine pain. I never had a back problem in my life (I was 30)...and now my si joints would get stuck and leave me in devestating pain. Sure enough..an MRI revealed that I had herniated the disc at the L5S1 level.
7 years later..I am in awful shape. I've been diagnosed with loose ligaments..and an unstable spine. To this day I wonder if I never cracked my lumbar - would I live in such a painful state.
I am considering a spine fusion...and have been through numerous other treatments...nothing holds the pelvis where it belongs because those ligaments are obviously shot. I share this..mostly to help anyone out there who thinks the self-adjusting is always harmless...I'm not too sure.