Read me!



  • hey all you crackers out there. i'm in med school focusing my work on joints … i have a hypermobility joint disorder that is pretty severe and becuase of that (diagnosed at age 16) i have focused my life on helping people deal with joint pain etc etc..

    basically i wanted to post this little note here to let you all know the dangers of cracking your joints. first off, when a professional cracks a joint they zone in on one area and crack a single joint.... when you do it yourself you sublux the joint above and below the joint that actually needed cracking therefore in the long run making thigns worse off.

    joint cracking isn't a bad thing as you are just releasing air pockets formed between certain joints BUT, cracking really fast or way too often can lead to ALOT of damadge.

    what i have seen??? the worst of it, is neck cracking. I know it's hard to stop doing, believe you me i know the claustrophobic feeling refraining from cracking a joint can cause... BUT please if you stop cracking anything, let it be your neck. in my days here working i've crossed paths with 4 patients that have had strokes from simply cracking their necks! i'm not here to scare you into stopping, but if you try to stop anything stop the neck cracking...

    for the rest of your joints, just make sure when you do it you do it in a slow manner, anything too fast will allow the joint to rub and will speed up the time you have left before arthitis kicks in.

    i mean, who am i to come on this site and tell you not to crack anything, i just felt i should let you all know what i know... and maybe it will do something.. and sure, i'm kinda a hypicrit because i too crack ALOT of joints daily.. but being educated and staying away from cracking your neck (so worth paying a chiropractor to crack your neck once a week to not wind up a stroke victim) ... just think about it.

    feel free to ask me anything you like, or comment on what i've said...

    safe cracking!



  • Ok, here is my comment;

    I have trouble believing that you are really a medical student, as there are far too many spelling and grammar errors in your post. I also do not believe that someone studying to be a doctor would be unaware that chiropractic manipulation is just as likely to cause a stroke as self-cracking.



  • @Woodoo:

    Ok, here is my comment;

    I have trouble believing that you are really a medical student, as there are far too many spelling and grammar errors in your post. I also do not believe that someone studying to be a doctor would be unaware that chiropractic manipulation is just as likely to cause a stroke as self-cracking.

    Ok, I too, have trouble believing this person is a medical student. In fact I'm going to go ahead and say I'm sure they aren't. However I must admit his post made me laugh pretty hard. The spelling errors are horrendous… arthitis? hypicrit? lol.... Whats more is why would he say he understands that not cracking your neck can make you feel claustrophobic; which is the fear of small or confined spaces? Lol does that even make sense? Not to mention the misuse of the term sublux. The chances that someone actually induces subluxation of a joint on themselves from simply trying to crack it, are like 1:6,000,000…. so thanks for the heads up? Lastly, everyone already knows that "joint cracking leads to arthritis" (notice the correct spelling) is nothing but an old wives tale, used by 'non-crackers' to stop the annoyances of people who crack their joints around them. I'm not sure if this person was trying to instill fear in our little joint cracking community or what , but its isn't working. As for me I am happy to be a 'crack addict' and will continue to crack my neck fo sho.



  • I don't think he's medical student either. As far as joint cracking goes I've talked about it with my own M.D. He would prefer I not do it as the jury is still out on whether it causes harm, but admits he'd prefer I crack my joints rather then take up some other stress-relieving vice such as smoking or drinking.


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