What causes the “noise” of the adjustment?
Not all adjusting techniques that chiropractors use produce the popping noise that we associate with “cracking out knuckles.” Some chiropractic adjusting techniques make no sound at all. But many chiropractors do use techniques that create, in many instances, the popping sound of a spinal “release.” So what causes the noise? Contrary to some beliefs, it is not bones cracking or popping, it is simply carbon dioxide and nitrogen gasses that rush in to fill a partial vacuum created when the joint surfaces are slightly separated. It is this displacement of joint fluid that causes the noise.
