Constantly popping your neck?

Why do I feel a constant need to pop my neck?
​The short answer is that you have a stability issue. A woman called me concerned about a constant need to pop her neck. She'd been doing it for years, even though EVERYONE told her it was bad ;). She never worried about it before because after the pop she always felt better. However, a few days before our phone call she popped her neck then suddenly felt a sharp pain shoot down her neck into her shoulder. Then she wasn't able to move her neck to the right without severe pain.

Q: Is popping your neck “bad”?
A: No, popping your neck occasionally is not bad at all; however, if you feel the constant need to pop your neck that is a sign something is wrong.

After speaking to her on the phone I found out her story was a little more complicated than just occasionally needing to pop her neck. We talked on the phone for several minutes about how often she really was popping her neck...how uncomfortable she really was several times a day. She was just so used to popping her neck it was simply a part of her day.
Now that she couldn't move her neck..she was overwhelmed with thoughts like
“How am I supposed to drive like this?”
“Will I be able to work on the computer?”
“What happens if this doesn’t go away.”
“Did I damage my spine?”
“Will I need surgery?”

When she came into the clinic we were able to do a detailed physical exam; which overcame her anxiety and stopped her overwhelming thoughts. I was able to ease her pain on the first session and to give her activities to continue improving her pain level while improving her neck motion. We came up with a plan to stop her pain, then talked about how we would progress this plan to stop the sensation that caused her to constantly pop her neck. As of this post she no longer has pain and she has gone a day without having to pop her neck..and is very happy about that.

If you would like more information on how to help your neck feel better simply call Dr. Molly. 

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