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Time to NOT Get Cracking

By Krista Elliott

So you've been sitting at your desk for a couple of hours, getting your work done (or watching YouTube videos of baby pandas, which totally counts as self-care). You stand up for a break, put your hands behind your back, lean, and enjoy the sensation of your spine popping. 

Ahhh ... that's better. Or is it? Is it safe to crack our own backs, or to get someone to do it for us? After all, it's just the same thing as what a chiropractor does, right? 

Sorry, but no. Cracking your own back is actually more harmful than you might realize, and is quite different from a chiropractic adjustment. 

Why Cracking Your Own Back is Harmful

Cracking your own back creates that satisfying popping sound, which is caused by the release of gases that are trapped between the joints. However, there are two major problems with cracking your own back: 

It Doesn't Address the Real Issues: Cracking your own back is akin to squeezing your entire face to deal with the zit on your nose. It's a broad treatment to a specific problem. And more often than not, if you do have a misalignment in your vertebrae or another type of subluxation, the joint is resistant to movement. So you're not even cracking it anyway, just the ones surrounding it. 

It Can Cause Damage: Oftentimes, cracking your own back involves stretching the joints farther than their comfortable range in order to release the gas and pressure. When you stretch a joint too far however, you run the risk of ligament damage. Joints are only meant to move so far, so any movement beyond that, especially if it is repetitive, can turn your ligaments into the bodily equivalent of a sweater cuff that's been pushed up to your elbow one too many times. And stretched, floppy ligaments are weak ligaments, which greatly increases your risk of joint instability and — you guessed it — injury. 

Why Chiropractic Treatment is Different

Chiropractic treatment is to "cracking your back" as plastic surgery is to punching someone in the nose. They both have results, but the former is a specific professional procedure that looks at the specific issue and how it relates to the larger area of the body, while the latter is pretty much just brute force. The chiropractic professionals at The Joint Chiropractic are adept at applying the precise amount of gentle and focused pressure needed to restore optimal movement and function to your joints without overtaxing them and risking ligament damage. With regular chiropractic treatment, your spine and joints will be in their best possible condition helping to reduce the pain and stiffness that made you want to crack your back in the first place. 

So, why not visit The Joint today and find out why chiropractic care IS all it's cracked up to be? 

 

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