Ways to crack your upper back by yourself

If you suffer from low back pain, you should, first of all, find out the cause of pain before you attempt to adjust your back. Your doctor or chiropractor may even give you specific exercises to help strengthen your lower back. This will prevent you from cracking areas of your back that may already be under strain. In most cases, gentle stretching exercises to crack your back can help to mobilize your spine and lessen back pain.

In this article, you will find 6 gentle exercises with illustrations to crack or pop your back like an expert. You will also find important precautions and answers to questions like: Is it good or bad to crack or pop your own back?

And what happens if you try to pop your back too often? If you suffer from occasional low back pain or sometimes feel that you have knots in your shoulders or middle back, cracking your back can release tension and ease the pain.

According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, spinal manipulation can help to treat low back pain. Doctors say that spinal manipulation can be used with exercise, physical therapy, and massage to get rid of back pain and muscle tension naturally. When done properly, popping or cracking your back is relatively safe. However, if you want to crack your own back, you should always use gentle pressure on your spinal joints.

Researchers in the Spine Journal reported that spinal manipulation and therapy also benefits the functions of the nervous system.

Researchers have found that manipulating the spine affects certain sensory nerve fibers. This can have a muscle-relaxing effect. The Journal of the American Medical Association reported that cracking your back can help improve pain in the lower back. Many patients who receive spinal manipulation therapy reported improvements in acute low back pain. Here are six gentle exercises for popping your back at home. They should not cause any pain but if you experience pain while cracking your back, stop immediately.

While doing these exercise you may or may not hear a cracking sound. As a general note, you should not focus on trying to achieve popping sound and you should not be aggressive while doing them. The first way to crack your back is by using a chair to exert pressure on spinal joints. You can use the back of the chair for leverage to extend the range of motion on your spine and crack joints in your mid-back.

When cracking your back using a chair, you should always try to keep your shoulder and back as relaxed as possible. The next exercise to pop your back involves sitting on a chair with the backrest at your side. Cookie Settings. Learn why people trust wikiHow. Download Article Explore this Article methods. Tips and Warnings. Related Articles. Article Summary. Method 1. All rights reserved. This image may not be used by other entities without the express written consent of wikiHow, Inc.

Use a chair to crack your back. If you need to crack your back quickly at work or school, you can do so while seated. This works best if you are sitting in a chair with a short back. While seated, slide your butt toward the front edge of the chair. Then, lean back until your back is touching the back of the chair. Place your palms on your forehead and exhale slowly. This will cause your head and shoulders to sink down behind the chair. Eventually, you should hear a crack. Do not lean back past the point where it feels uncomfortable to you.

If it hurts or feels uncomfortable, then stop. Lie on the floor. If you're struggling to crack your back while seated or standing, you can try doing it while lying on the floor. However, this exercise will require some more range of motion. You need to be able to grab your toes. Do not attempt this exercise if it is painful for you to reach your feet. If you feel pain or discomfort when you attempt the stretch, then stop immediately. Try to crack your back while standing upright.

This is a fairly safe means of cracking your back, and it can be done at your convenience during the day. However, you do need some range of motion with your arms to do this stretch because you need to place both hands on the center of your back. To start, place your hands behind your back, one on top of another, at the center of your spine.

Keep going until you hear and feel a slight pop. However, do not lean back past the point where it feels uncomfortable to you. If you feel pain or discomfort, then stop. Method 2. Lay face down on a firm surface. To have someone else crack your back, you will need to lay down on a firm surface. The floor or a firm mattress work well. Lay on your stomach and place your arms at your sides. Have the person who is helping you stand just in front of your head.

Have them apply pressure to your spine. The other person should place one hand over the other, and then, they should place their hands in the middle of your shoulder blades. Have them apply just a light amount of pressure to start. Ask the person to apply pressure as you exhale.

Make sure that the person can hear your breathing. They should only push down once you have exhaled. It may be a good idea to have the other person instruct you when to breathe out and in, just to make sure. The other person will have to gradually move down your back to produce a popping noise.

Tip: The person should apply pressure between your shoulder blades as you're exhaling. Instruct your friend to move down your back. The other person should keep moving their hands downward. Cracking your back isn't generally harmful, should you do it? When that uncomfortable feeling of restriction settles between the joints in your back, the first thing you want to do is crack your back. That release offers instant relief and allows your back to move more freely.

While cracking your back every so often is all right, if you find yourself cracking your back daily or multiple times per day, it may be the sign of another condition. Seeing a licensed chiropractor can help you address tension issues within your spinal joints, and pinpoint conditions that cracking your back will exacerbate and not solve.

Having a neutral and trained third party evaluate and treat the cause s is wise. Shaye mentions self-manipulation has even caused strokes, in extreme cases. He advises thinking about why your back may be hurting in the first place before deciding to crack your back.

If a part hurts, [ask yourself] does it need to be stretched, or exercised, or massaged, or manipulated? Doing the wrong thing may be useless, or harmful.

If cracking your back is accompanied by pain—stop. While cracking your back is widely considered harmless and no evidence supports long-term joint damage as a result, chiropractors prefer for you to use stretches and massage to get relief from your joint tension.

It's not advised, however, to have friends or family members assist you by stepping on your back or lifting you from the ground. While these are designed to provide temporary relief, If you want lasting relief, visiting a chiropractor and spending a few minutes stretching your back and spine each day may provide the best relief long term.

Information provided within this article is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for medical advice. Standing lumbar extension. Upward stretch. Standing spinal rotation. Seated twist. Supine foam roller stretch. Supine twist. Supine shoulder blade stretch. How to crack your back video. Tips to practice. When not to crack your own back.

The takeaway. Read this next. Medically reviewed by William Morrison, M.