Is it safe to pop your back and neck?

Answer 1

Actually, it's not!! It's very dangerous and I would advice you to get rid of the habit. I used to do the same until a chiropractor adviced me to stop immediately, cold turkey! It can lead to major back and neck problems in the future, but you can also pop on of the disks out of place, and you do not want to do that! I know sometimes i still have the habit and want to do it because it feels like it relieves my stress building up, but it's best to just forget it and ignore it.
Good luck, and be safe.

Answer 2

To understand what happens when you "crack" your knuckles, or any other joint, first you need a little background about the nature of the joints of the body. The type of joints that you can most easily "pop" or "crack" are the diarthrodial joints. These are your most typical joints. They consist of two bones that contact each other at their cartilage surfaces; the cartilage surfaces are surrounded by a joint capsule. Inside the joint capsule is a lubricant, known as synovial fluid, which also serves as a source of nutrients for the cells that maintain the joint cartilage. In addition, the synovial fluid contains dissolved gases, including oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide.
The easiest joints to pop are the ones in your fingers (the interphalangeal and the metacarpophalangeal joints). As the joint capsule stretches, its expansion is limited by a number of factors. When small forces are applied to the joint, one factor that limits the motion is the volume of the joint. That volume is set by the amount of synovial fluid contained in the joint. The synovial fluid cannot expand unless the pressure inside the capsule drops to a point at which the dissolved gases can escape the solution; when the gases come out of solution, they increase the volume and hence the mobility of the joint.
The cracking or popping sound is thought to be caused by the gases rapidly coming out of solution, allowing the capsule to stretch a little further. The stretching of the joint is soon thereafter limited by the length of the capsule. If you take an x-ray of the joint after cracking, you can see a gas bubble inside the joint. This gas increases the joint volume by 15 to 20 percent; it consists mostly (about 80 percent) of carbon dioxide. The joint cannot be cracked again until the gases have dissolved back into the synovial fluid, which explains why you cannot crack the same knuckle repeatedly.
Any joint that pops or snaps should be assumed to have ligament laxity or weakness. Most doctors would treat it when it is symptomatic such as causing weakness, pain or associated symptoms.
Popping in the spine in the neck, upper back or lower back is not a good thing. It is a sign of ligament weakness which causes accelerated disc degeneration. The treatment of choice in our experience for ligament weakness or injury is Prolotherapy. Prolotherapy stimulates the area to repair. For you treatment would be directed at the segments that are popping.
It is generally harmless to pop a joint, but it's not a good idea to habitually pop your neck. Forced, inappropriate movement of the neck could grind arthritic formations in an around the joints. The "gravel sound" could indicate thinning and wearing of the cartilage lining joint surfaces, causing aggravating but harmless noise.

Answer 3

Whenever you hear popping sounds in neck, back or when people crack their knuckles, it's just nitrogen bubbles popping. It's not actually the bones.