What causes the sound of an adjustment?
Actually, not all chiropractic adjusting techniques produce the sound associated with “cracking your knuckles”. Some techniques create no sound all, some a little. Many techniques however, do create the sound. To determine what the sound is caused by, a British research team took x-ray movies of people’s hands while cracking their knuckles. The sound was actually caused by a gas bubble forming within the joint being worked on.
Actually, not all adjusting techniques produce the sound associated with “popping knuckles.” Some create no sound at all. Many techniques, however, do create the sound of a spinal “release.” According to the findings of a British research team that took x-rays of people “popping” their knuckles, the sound is caused by gas rushing in to fill the partial vacuum created when the joints are slightly separated. The desire to pop or “crack” your neck or back is caused by tension from a jammed or fixed vertebra which causes another part of the spine to compensate by moving too much and “popping” a lot.
