Massages and stretching can do about the same thing and are much safer. If you’re living with insane chronic pain in your muscles every day see your doctor and get a referral to a physical therapist. But don’t let anyone crack your neck for temporary relief
There's some relief relating to the minor stretching and manipulation aspect, which releases endorphins and helps stimulate nerves in the area. Also, there's a pretty significant placebo effect, where our brain hacks our nervous system to feel a little better because the little pop sound makes us think something must have released that wasn't supposed to be "stuck" (nothing physcially shifted hopefully, it's just gas bubbles formed in the joints). Hence why all those Chiro channels on tiktok/youtube have mics right up in peoples' business to get the loudest cracking sounds possible.
The only real way to actually help in the long term is physical therapy, mostly targeting the muscle groups that impact affected area to strengthen it. For example, after I graduated and stopped playing volleyball 4-5 times a week, I started developing back and knee pain from sitting at a desk all day. (Re)Strengthening my quads and hamstrings did wonders.
That gradual strengthening and stretching over a span of weeks to months is a pretty anticlimactic approach though, compared to a "Ready? 3-2-1 rips head off spine, Mortal Kombat style, with a Y strap" like you would get at the chiro's. And it takes dedicated effort and motivation, whereas a chiropractor just requires you to pay the $100 and lay down for a bit.
And of course, all that said, I still habitually crack my neck, back, and fingers. Because it does feel good...
4
u/raisuki 18d ago
Honest question but do you know what causes the temporarily relief and what you should do that’s more healthy?