What benefit can come from cracking the neck or back?
The proper term is spinal manipulative therapy, or SMT. There are studies that show that SMT is more effective in treating spinal pain than bed rest, medications, acupuncture, and in some cases, surgery. SMT is a procedure that involves manually moving a joint segment through its anatomical range of motion. It is done to areas that exhibit pain, restriction, and/or muscle spasm. The procedure is done by hand and usually employs a high-velocity, short amplitude thrust into the joint. Oftentimes a “crack” or “pop” is heard, which is simply the shifting of dissolved gases in the synovial fluid of the joint. The benefits are increased range of motion and decreased pain over time. Some researchers believe that SMT has beneficial effects to the nerves that mediate muscle tone and pain (proprioceptors and nociceptors), which is one of the models that attempts to explain how SMT lessens pain and restores motion.
