What's with the cracking neck??

June 18, 2013 5:30 PM

In the past week my neck, specifically the back of the neck right where it connects to the base of my head, has been cracking several times a day. I'm not trying to do it intentionally - it happens when I do mundane things like turn my head or look up. It's strong enough to make me a little dizzy, or makes my head feel loose for a second, or alternately like it might seize up and stop moving altogether. Anyone have any experience with this?
posted by Josephine Macaulay to Health & Fitness (3 answers total)

Sounds scary. A new, ongoing problem that makes you feel dizzy and/or almost paralyzed sounds like it's time for a trip to the doctor.
posted by Glinn at 6:04 PM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

Go to the doctor, the cracking alone my not be a big deal but the dizziness is a potential red flag.
posted by windykites at 6:41 PM on June 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

My neck did this all the time and usually correlated to the amount of tension I had in my shoulders. Upon self inspection, I noticed a lot of "knots" in my neck and shoulder area. I used this thing called a "Rumble Roller". It basically flattens out the knots which in turn reduced the amount my neck was cracking which reduced the number of times I would get light headed from the cracking- I attributed the light headness to the temporary reduction of blow flow to my brain. It might be worth a shot for you- of course, if you are worried about it- get a MD to check you out.
posted by bkeene12 at 9:03 PM on June 18, 2013