Question
Hi there,
I sometimes get throbbing headaches that I think may be related to cracking my neck/back. Sometimes during the day, I slowly roll my head forward and I can feel/hear a cracking in my neck. This leads to a headache a lot of the time. Should I stop or will my back/neck crack naturally? Why does this lead to such a throbbing headache? Thanks!

Answer
Emily,

The desire to crack your neck comes from the discomfort of tight neck muscles.

Tight neck muscles also cause headaches.

When you learn to relax your neck, the discomfort, desire to crack your neck, and headaches will end.  One means of learning to relax your neck is a kind of training called Clinical Somatic Education; I know of nothing more effective.  Please see my article on headaches at somatics.com/page4.htm.

There is no other virtue to cracking your neck than temporary relief.  It's not particularly therapeutic and often causes neck muscles to "rebound" back into contraction, which is why your headaches follow cracking your neck.

with regard,
Lawrence Gold