While knuckle-cracking is unlikely to be a problem, the same is not true of back and neck-popping. The neck contains vital nerves, including the spinal cord. "Plus, you've got two really important arteries that run through the back of your neck and travel towards the brain," adds Jagannathan. These areas are delicate – mishandling them can cause serious injury and side effects such as tingling in the limbs and dizziness. "Any type of excessive manipulation is dangerous," says Jagannathan.
Cracking your own neck is not recommended, and even professional manipulations are controversial. In 2012, Neil O'Connell, from the Centre for Research and Rehabilitation at Brunel University and colleagues described chiropractic neck adjustments as "unnecessary and inadvisable".
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