The Crack Habit

Coming to you from 99 whiplashes of my own,

which led me down this rosy road of becoming a Chiropractor.   Let’s talk necks. 

I know it’s tempting to crack your own neck 1000 times a day...

or lean back over a chair or twist yourself as far as you can go and then whip your spine…  I’ve been there, done that.  It’s a normal urge.

You're not wrong for wanting to do that.

But let me explain what happens when you do...

When you “self-adjust” or "crack your own neck or back" the theory is…

that you only end up moving the bones that are already moving.  

Those bones are HYPERMOBILE and move easy-peasy. 

The ones you are really after are the HYPOMOBILE ones.

The ones that aren’t moving well.

Lets say you get something to move. 

You “fix” the problem, it comes back, and your body wants to do it all over again.

That’s because something above or below the problem moved and the problem itself actually stayed the same.  So you have to do it again and again and again.  And the pain is still there.  Do you ever wonder if you're making the problem worse by doing this? The answer is yes, it’s becoming more unstable every time you do it.

You might be whiplashing yourself over and over again. (cringe) 

Here’s a tip, get it ADJUSTED by someone who knows what they’re doing. 

A chiropractor can move just the stuck area and get the whole neck and spine to

stabilize.  But you ask, don't I need massage instead?  I think it’s in the muscles. 

Well, YES,  the pain signals can be coming from the muscles.

And the muscles do get involved to try and fix the stuck area.

They get in patterns where they are not blinking off and on like they should. 

They stay in an ON or OFF position, which is not exactly healthy for them.

So YES, massage will help, but it cannot fix the stuck vertebrae, which is what creates the crack habit in the first place...

and having a crack habit just might lead to more problems down the road...  

Pain is our motivator.  It’s like the light on the dash, telling us giving us a signal that

something is wrong.  Think about it, normally we walk around without any pain. 

We think we’re fine if the pain goes away.  The theory is, pain is the last thing to show up,

and the first thing to go away. If only we had a BLINKING LIGHT on our dash that said,

your spine is having a problem!!!  But we don’t.  Your spine is supposed to move fluidly and evenly in all directions.  And not give you signals that it wants to be cracked.   Trust me, those urges stop when everything is working right. And you need your spine to work right

to have good health.  

The way I figure out your exact problem is to look at an X-RAY.  There are other ways. 

But this one is QUITE reliable!  And I draw lines all over them to measure angles, and

figure out where you need to be adjusted.   Your body likes this.  It loves this.  Because it

knows that I know where to go and let’s me make the correction.  Ever worry about a Chiropractor making things worse?  That’s normal.  We protect our spines from harm,

especially our necks, because there are important nerves and things inside there.   And when Chiropractic is applied specifically, guess what?  You feel safe. Not only do you feel better afterwards, but you FUNCTION better.  You feel less of that urge to "self adjust" or crack your neck. You feel less pain.  You move better.  Your body becomes more efficient, because it's not working so hard to fix the problem.   Your muscles relax.  You have ease.

The real question is, how do i switch my crack habit into a stretch habit?  I can show you

that.  This is what you want to do after being corrected, instead of un-correcting things. 

Self massage instead of self adjust. Keep your neck in a stacked and protected position.

Sleep on the correct pillow.  Get a curve in your neck.  Stability is the goal.  Not just getting out of pain.  Don’t stop before the miracles happen!  Ask yourself, how long have I had this habit?  How long would it take to braces to fix my teeth? Teeth are similar to bones. Bones will change like teeth can.  But it can take "a minute".  They have to go through a period of re-training, and decide they like the changes you are making to them.

Once you have the new you up and running, ask yourself, what makes my bones "go out of place" to begin with?   I'm glad you asked. More blog posts coming soon...