How to Fix a Snapping and Popping Neck

in this video i'm going to show you how to fix a snapping and popping neck stay tuned hey everyone dr rowe from spinecare in saint joseph michigan so in this video we're going to tackle the two big causes of snapping and popping sounds in the neck the first being inflamed soft tissues including muscle tendons so when you try to move the neck it tends to snap the other being locked up joints that kind of grind when you try to move them that is known as crepitus so i'm going to break this down into an easy three-part process we're going to get everything loosened up in the muscles including into the neck shoulders and upper back next we're going to focus on just getting everything moving and last we're going to focus on strengthening everything so hopefully we'll get rid of those snapping and popping sounds in the neck for good all of these exercises are easy effective and can be done at home so let's get started and get rid of those clicks pops and cracks in the neck right now this video is going to be broken up into three parts that all work together so go through all the parts and exercises and go with the exercises that offer the most amount of relief in the first part we're going to focus on muscle and tendon tightness especially ones that might be snapping with movement this is known as gua shot or muscle scraping and it might end up becoming your new favorite self-massage for the neck we need two things the first being a form of lubrication i'm going to be using coconut oil but you can also use massage creams or over-the-counter pain relief creams such as biofreeze or icy hot just make sure to coat the back of the neck shoulders upper back with the lubrication and when it comes to lubrication a little bit more is always better the next thing i'm going to be using is a metal spoon i like one that is a little bit thicker because you can just dig into the muscles a little bit more to hopefully get more relief so let's go through different motions that might be causing that popping or snapping into the neck and get those worked out i'm going to focus on basically doing a nice chin tuck like this while drawing my head forward to cause flexion into my neck so my chin down head is going forward like this and you're going to have to excuse me for my wolfman appearance because i haven't had a haircut in about a year what i want to do is i want to use my spoon and you can use your thumb and the spoon like this or you can use the edge right here i prefer the edge but it's your choice and go over the muscles only so we're staying off any bony parts including the spine base of the skull and we're not going to go over the front of the neck start at the top part of the upper back right here put a little bit of pressure in there and do a nice slow stroke up towards the base of the skull go lightly until you find your comfort level you just want to do this very lightly and very slowly and just move over just a little bit and continue all the way across the back side of the neck when you do this you're also going to notice that a certain spot might feel very gritty make note of that that's generally a spot of adhesion and just put a little bit more pressure in there to try to break it up you might also notice red pockets start to form that is blood flow coming to the area that will help promote healing but once you go across one side always switch to the other to make sure that you're keeping both in balance from there what you're going to do is just attack it at a different angle let's go down with it instead and repeat and then from there go at a 45 degree angle also explore using different parts of the spoon maybe it feels more effective to use the rounded part maybe it feels better to use the tip but just go with the one that you feel is the most effective from there what you want to do is go through motions that might be causing that popping or snapping sound let's say that i get a lot when i turn my head towards the left let's go into that position and i'm starting to feel that popping click right here so i'm going to go through the motion but i'm at the same time going to start to dig in there with the spoon but just try to attack it with different movements go up and down with it go side to side you can also use different parts of the spoon try to release as much tension as possible until it feels like you're able to move the head without that clicking sound and you can repeat this up and down and in different motions another good way to really target the neck is to do a neck retraction that's taking two fingers going back as far as you're able to and then really digging into those muscles also if you want to target more into the top part of the shoulder this is how we can do that let's take our hand put it on one side and take the ear towards the shoulder this will open up the other side especially that trapezius muscle that runs down into the shoulder that allows you to really just dig in there and focus on the muscle that goes from the top part of the neck all the way down into the shoulder and again just repeat on the other side but just again go very lightly with it don't go over the front part of the neck no bony parts and really just focus on the spots with certain movements and different angles and hopefully you'll get a lot of those popping sensations out in this next part we're going to focus on getting everything stretched out the muscles and tendons so with movement they're not going to snap or pop this first one is one of my personal favorites you can do this one in bed or on the floor just start off on your back the movement simple i'm going to start off by bending my elbows and then just taking them down towards the floor or the bed as much as we can when you do this you should already start to feel a great stretch into the upper back and into the chest next let's do a chin tuck that is taking the chin right here and then just taking it down towards the chest as much as you can when you do this you're going to feel a great stretch happening throughout the neck possibly even the upper back let's then take our elbows down just a little bit like this so almost we're forming a w with our arms and our back try to hold this position for about 10 seconds and then from there you're just going to relax and then you're just going to repeat with each repetition try to drive the elbows down and really tuck that chin how we can take this to the next level is then with the chin tuck turn our head towards a certain direction so i'm taking it towards my left and when you do this you're going to feel a great stretch happen again only to your comfort level try to hold this for about 10 seconds you're just going to relax and then you're going to repeat this three to five times from there always switch to the other side to make sure that you keep both sides in balance how we can target one certain movement that might be popping or clicking let's say again i'm having a lot of popping or clicking turning towards my left what i'm going to do is go right to the point where it pops or clicks and make note of that let's really tuck our chin as much as we can go a little bit before that pop or click happens and then tuck it even further and then rotate or turn the head a little bit further repeat this over and over again really throw rope or repetitions in there because it's going to help lengthen that keep doing it until you finally feel that release and then from there you can switch to different motions or movements i should say possibly going towards the other side and repeating until you hit all the spots this next neck exercise is great we're going to use a pulling traction to not only open up the joint spaces of the neck to hopefully get rid of that grinding and popping sound but also stretch the soft tissue to get rid of the snapping so you kind of get a twofer what i'm going to do is use a flat surface the edge of a bed a couch counter top chair it all works and i'm also going to be using a medium sized hand drying towel let's go to our flat surface and start off on the knees so make sure to put a pillow or towel underneath for comfort bend the elbows and place them on that flat surface like this we want to make sure that we have a nice solid anchor point with our arms right here that will support our upper body weight the movement is very simple let's hook the towel at the base of the skull right here and then take the two ends and pull them forward to create a little bit of a tension already i'm going to do a slight chin tuck and then from there what i'm going to do is i'm going to pull upwards at 45 degrees while i then start to lower my butt down towards my heels so i'm pulling up with the ends right here while i'm lowering my lower body towards my heels and when you do this you're going to feel a great stretch into the neck possibly all the way down into the back itself go down as far as you feel comfortable when you hit that point hold this for up to 15 to 20 seconds do nice slow controlled breathing too really focus on just letting the tension out from there you're just going to relax and then you're going to repeat this on the next repetition try to challenge yourself by going a little bit further down taking the butt down towards the heels the more that you open up the joints and stretch that soft tissue the more likely it is that you're going to have less popping and snapping sounds in the future so try to do five complete repetitions again challenge yourself and only go to your comfort level so here is another great way that we can use traction to get rid of those pops and clicks into the neck let's start seated and i'm going to start with very good upright posture we're also going to be using our towel again so place it right over the neck at the base of the skull let's crisscross our arms with this one though so we're going to grab the two ends and then pull them forward whatever side that you're having trouble let's say that i'm having difficulty or i'm having popping sounds while turning towards my left i'm going to take the towel end on the opposite side so if i'm turning towards my left i'm going to grab the right side and then i'm going to angle it up towards the ceiling at 45 degrees almost like this towel right here is going through my eye the other towel is going to be our anchor point so i'm just going to hold this end stationary the movement very simple let's do a slight chin tuck and then from there i'm going to pull up on that end right there towards the ceiling when you do this you're going to feel your head turn but also a pulling traction happen in the neck keep going until you feel like a very good stretch is happening only to your comfort level try to hold this one for 10 seconds from there you're just going to relax and then you're going to repeat this up to three to five times what you can do also let's say that you have just a certain point that it is really clicking make note of that you want to throw more repetitions in on this spot so what i do is i go right before it starts to click and then i pull through it and each time i do this i just try to go a little bit further with it to challenge myself but throw more repetitions in there to help lengthen that soft tissue out and keep going hopefully until you feel that click or pop or snap start to work its way out so this next exercise is a personal favorite for a lot of people because it usually ends with a satisfying pop snapper crack in the neck that will hopefully get rid of a lot of clicks and pops what we're going to do is an upper trapezius stretch so whatever side that i'm having issues let's say that when i kind of bend my neck towards the left right here i get a lot of popping or cracking right there so let's take that side's arm and i'm going to just place it on the small lower back so i'm really just focusing on bringing that arm over as much as possible what i'm going to do from there is i'm going to take my hand place it on the side of the head right here and then take it towards the other shoulder when you do this you're going to feel a great pull starting from the side of the neck going all the way down into the trapezius muscle into the shoulder right here keep pulling down as far as you feel comfortable and when you do this you might feel a proper crack or self-release that is completely normal that is just gases being released from that joint from there hold this for about 10 seconds you're just going to relax try to really drive that arm over just a little bit more and then from there take that ear to the shoulder even further challenge yourself try to really lengthen these muscles do this three to five times and then from there switch to the other side and then just repeat you want to do this on both sides to keep them in balance so without a doubt if we want to get rid of snapping and popping sounds in the neck for good we have to strengthen everything that way the muscles and joints are healthy and happy we're going to do what are known as isometric exercises these are one of the safest and best ways to help just strengthen everything i'm going to do this one seated so let's start off with very good straight upright posture i find that using a towel helps the best with this one too so i'm going to take the two ends like this and i'm just going to place the towel right at the forehead let's tuck our chin just very slightly what i'm going to do is i'm going to pull back on the two ends like this while drawing my head forward into flexion but i'm going to resist against it with the towel when you do this you're really going to feel the muscles activate in the neck so only go to your comfort level but really resist against that with an isometric exercise you should feel like you're really not moving at all but you're getting a very good workout while doing it try to hold this one for 10 seconds you're just going to relax and then you're going to repeat up to 3 to 5 times next let's focus on backwards motion known as extension so we're going to take our towel like this place it on the back side of the head instead i'm going to do what is known as a neck retraction that is i'm going to tuck the chin very slightly and then i'm going to bring my head or my chin straight backwards into the towel and when you do this you're really going to feel those muscles activate just a little bit differently again only go to your comfort level with it try to hold this for 10 seconds relax and then do three to five repetitions so how we can focus on isometric exercises for turning the head and bending the neck let's do this take our hands put it on the side of the head what i'm going to do is try to turn my head into my hands so i'm trying to turn and resist against it while rotating my head towards the right when you do this again the muscles are just going to activate a little bit differently go to your comfort level try to hold this for 10 seconds from there relax three to five repetitions and then just simply switch to the other side lastly what we want to do is take our hand put it right on the side of our head and we're going to bend into it so taking the ear towards the shoulder again we're just going to resist against this one 10 second holds three to five times and then just simply switch to the other side but all these motions are really going to focus on all of those muscles of the neck that are responsible for movement and hopefully strengthen it and lead again to less popping in the future if you liked the video and got a lot of relief please show us your support by giving this video like and maybe subscribing to our channel too if you have any comments or questions please leave them below i'll get back to you as soon as i can thank you for watching

Channel: SpineCare Decompression and Chiropractic Center

Views: 208,167

Rating: 4.9566197 out of 5

Keywords: How to Fix a Snapping and Popping Neck, how to fix a clicking neck, how to get rid of a snapping neck, how to fix neck popping, how to fix neck sounds, how to fix neck cracking, neck cracking, how to get rid of cracks in your neck, how to get rid of pops in your neck, how to get rid of clicks in your neck, how to fix neck snapping sounds, how to fix neck popping sounds, how to fix neck cracking sounds, how to fix neck clicking sounds, neck pops when turning, spinecare, dr rowe

Id: aHNH4yeXgQg

Length: 14min 21sec (861 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 28 2021