Neck cracking techniques



  • hi everyone,

    was just wondering - how do you crack your neck?

    when i was younger my neck used to crack all the time, but now it seems less frequent. although my desire to crack my neck has increased!! i don't know why.

    anyway.. feel free to share how u release the tension in your neck.



  • the most awesome cracks i get in my neck are in the middle of a workout with weights…..usually after 10 minues of bicep curls, etc, I can just tense my neck and then turn it and i usually get a huge crack or multiple cracks that get deeper as I turn my neck...its pretty awesome and leaves me somewhat in awe but have been trying to stop this and have been somewhat successful.



  • It's kind of hard to describe, but I'll give it a shot. 🙂

    The best way I get my neck to crack is by lying down on my back; usually it's best to do it in bed, but the floor will work also. Relax your neck and tilt it to the left, so it's as close to perpendicular to your spine as you can get it. Then put both hands against the right side of your neck (I always put one hand just below my ear, and another hand just above it). Then push your hands down and push your neck up against that pressure. For me, this almost always results in two or three nice cracks on the right side of my neck. Repeat for the left side, but just switch all the directions. Hopefully this helps!



  • If the neck is stiff enough, I'll turn head as far left as possible, then lift chin and look upwards. Return head to normal position. Or, look up, lifting chin as far as it will go, then turn chin left and up, then right and up. If my neck is crackable, those techniques will crack it every time. Head back in normal position, just tilting your head right and up whilst tilting your chin to the left and up also works. Repeat vice versa to stretch and crack the other side. Few things feel better than a series of good solid neck cracks.

    I'll sometimes grab the hair behind my left ear with my right hand (reaching behind my back) and twist my head around in an anticlockwise direction. Repeat on the other side with the left hand twisting head around in clockwise. If everything goes right, the result is a specific click more or less in the middle of the neck that can't be achieved in any other way. (This is best done while lying on my back in bed with my head raised slightly). Also, grabbing the hair just behind my left ear and twisting anti-clockwise with counterpressure applied on the chin is great for cracking the very top of my neck, right behind the head. Otherwise, the rotational force exerted on my neck vertebrae by my head movements is normally sufficient to achieve the desired results for most other parts of the neck. Lifting the chin before turning the head/chin left and right focuses pressure on the upper neck vertebrae. Looking forward and tilting the chin left/right or looking to the side and then upwards focuses on the lower neck vertebrae. If the crack 'is there', just the action alone is normally sufficient; very little additional pressure is needed.



  • I'm not sure if it's true or not, but I remember in High School someone produced a news story to me about a man who effectively broke his neck while twisting it. When I asked my doctor about it, she didn't know of such an event, but she did say that as a "cracker" herself, she doesn't twist her neck.



  • I am bummed that I am no longer able to crack my neck 😢

    Back in high school, I could just stand straight up, and just drop my head
    to the left and then to the right. I would get a drumroll of cracks each way. Grossed out everyone within earshot. 😄

    I think it was due to my slight frame (at the time). I was 6'3" and about 165 lbs.. My neck was "like a stack of dimes". I now weigh…. MORE than that...!!! I think my neck is too thick now.

    Weird thing: My 17 year-old son... 6'2", 155 lbs....and he's taken over the family business!!!! Cracks his neck the same way dad used to, with the same results..!!! So proud.!! 😛



  • @Patudo:

    If the neck is stiff enough, I'll turn head as far left as possible, then lift chin and look upwards. Return head to normal position. Or, look up, lifting chin as far as it will go, then turn chin left and up, then right and up. If my neck is crackable, those techniques will crack it every time. Head back in normal position, just tilting your head right and up whilst tilting your chin to the left and up also works. Repeat vice versa to stretch and crack the other side. Few things feel better than a series of good solid neck cracks.

    I'll sometimes grab the hair behind my left ear with my right hand (reaching behind my back) and twist my head around in an anticlockwise direction. Repeat on the other side with the left hand twisting head around in clockwise. If everything goes right, the result is a specific click more or less in the middle of the neck that can't be achieved in any other way. (This is best done while lying on my back in bed with my head raised slightly). Also, grabbing the hair just behind my left ear and twisting anti-clockwise with counterpressure applied on the chin is great for cracking the very top of my neck, right behind the head. Otherwise, the rotational force exerted on my neck vertebrae by my head movements is normally sufficient to achieve the desired results for most other parts of the neck. Lifting the chin before turning the head/chin left and right focuses pressure on the upper neck vertebrae. Looking forward and tilting the chin left/right or looking to the side and then upwards focuses on the lower neck vertebrae. If the crack 'is there', just the action alone is normally sufficient; very little additional pressure is needed.

    Interesting as when i turn my neck up i get a few cracks but haven't yet turned it to the side whilst in that upright position.



  • @ccrakker:

    I am bummed that I am no longer able to crack my neck 😢

    Back in high school, I could just stand straight up, and just drop my head
    to the left and then to the right. I would get a drumroll of cracks each way. Grossed out everyone within earshot. 😄

    I think it was due to my slight frame (at the time). I was 6'3" and about 165 lbs.. My neck was "like a stack of dimes". I now weigh…. MORE than that...!!! I think my neck is too thick now.

    Weird thing: My 17 year-old son... 6'2", 155 lbs....and he's taken over the family business!!!! Cracks his neck the same way dad used to, with the same results..!!! So proud.!! 😛

    lol yeah i think its common amongst teenagers



  • As we find out how to do it young.



  • what a way to spend teenage years… lol 🙂



  • Yep admist others.


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