Hi, I've been popping my neck joints for about 6 years now, and it's a terrible habbit. My neck is starting to hurt all the time and the muscles are "very" tight. The tension makes it very hard to sleep, so my neck pain keeps me up a lot of nights.

I've already tried a chiropractor for 5 weeks and it didn't really help. It did reduce the amount my neck can pop now of days, but I just don't have the money to cover it anymore.

I have seen a doctor multiple times and even got some trigger point injections. Didn't solve the problem either.

Currently, I'm doing 4 different neck exercises to strengthen my neck. My doctor said that building up more muscle tissue in those neck muscles should get rid of the knots which cause the pain. I'm doing them every other day now in my recent exercise program. This has been going on for 4 weeks now.


What I'm wonder is, do those fibro (high malic acid content) pills really work?

What about a neck brace?
I've been massaging my neck with a "Conair Neck Massager" before going to bed every night, because otherwise...I lay there for nearly an hour trying to droze away the ache.

Poping seems to help reduce it for a few minutes...but then it just comes back. Popping it actually makes it worse, but I just can't help myself sometimes. I do some stretches and all the sudden my neck accidentally pops in one or two of them.



Here's my neck exercise regime:

100-120 Back Lifts: I sit on a couch with my knees spred...chest, arms and neck all drop foward towards the ground. Using only my neck muscles, I lift my head in a motion from looking at the floor to facing foward...repeating this untill I reach 100-120 reps.

50 Side Lifts: I stay in the same position, but this time I put one hand on a knee with the elbow sticking up in the air. Now I use the side muscles of my neck and touch my ear to my shoulder. This exercise is much harder, so I can only do about 50 for each side right now.

100-120 Back twists: The same position as my first exercise, but this time I just going to be facing the floor and turning my head from left to right...counting 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, etc.

50 Foward Lifts: I lay completely flat on the ground and then lift my head up , using only my neck muscles, untill I see my shoes. I repeat this 50 times and it's by far the hardest of the 4 exercises. It's basicly a "neck sit-up".

Hello,

I have a lot of neck pain, too, go to PT for it now. I have DDD and some encroachment on the nerves in there, but main problem is the tight ropey muscles that spasm out on me and cause migraines and constant neck pain.
I have heard that popping your neck is just not the thing to do. I've been told it's harmful, actually, so maybe you should stop doing that.
I'll give your neck exercises a try, thanks,

Seaturtle

I also have lots of neck pain. I was diagnosed with a herniated disc of C4-C5 2 years ago and had an ACDF a year and 1/2 ago. It STILL hurts, VERY MUCH. Before, after, and even now my neck muscles will get so tight it feels like my head will pop off. Sometimes I will have spasms in the front of my neck that almost choke me. It's no fun, that's for sure.

Maybe your symptoms are from something more than Fibro or muscle spasms. Have you had a MRI?
As far as exercising, listen to your body. I know that in the months of PT following surgery there were times when exercises made my muscles tighter. Try alternating hot and cold compresses. The cold will reduce swelling and the hot will loosen muscles. If one seems to work better than the other, go with that for awhile.
Also try a new or different pillow. The ones that are made for "neck and head support" absolutely kill me. I have a big feather pillow that I can't sleep without.
Try to reduce the number of hours or minutes you spend on the computer. That can cause serious neck strain. Move around alot. Sitting, laying, or walking around too much can also be bad on you. Try to alternate your postitons.
When my neck gets really bad the only thing that works great is valium. No pain pill or muscle relaxer that I have tried will touch the pain.

Good luck.

Well, my neck still hurts and I'm still doing the exercises.
My neck muscles have gotten bigger and stronger (a couple of people noticed :D ) , so I must be doing something right.


As for now, I still have to use my neck messager to loosen my neck enough to sleep. I also try doing intense stretching on those two muscles down the corners of my neck (they start behind the ears and go down to the upper back).

Those are the muscles that are just too darn tight and I want them to loosen already! for good!

It's pretty painful and I'm always wakin up with it.

after 7 visits to the doctor (every other month or so)...trying new things, he finally tried some trigger point injections and I fainted. I think he mighta touched a nerve or something sensitive...either way, my body didn't enjoy the needles too well, even though I wasn't in fear.

i have osteoarthritis so understand about neckpain and disc etc problems, hope you all find what suits you best. unfortunately i overdid the exercising a coupla times after finishing physio and going back to the gym. to me when we overwork our muscles we may find they unzip like the rind on a banana and never are right again. i used to have a swanlike neck and a lot of agility as i did ballet as a child, followed by yoga and other activities which i won't go into...or i'll blush haha, now im stuck with neck and shoulder muscles which arnie schwarzenager would die for. oh the misconceptions of fibromyalgia, wish i'd known 50 or so years ago what i know now haha.

wonder why certain words are underlined on all my posts, does anyone know?

silly me, it's giving reference to certain medical words, to click on and find out more. gee, can you tell this is all new to me. my friend called me a cyber virgin and laughs at my two finger typing. well seen she dont have fibro.

i dont know what neck popping in, but i do know about the clicking and crunching and the pain, often feels like a robot. have you had xrays to determine if you have bone spurs or narrowing. if you have fibro, it can hide osteo conditions until an xray or scan shows something. narrowing of the spine can cause bulging discs to inpinge on nerves, a sort of sciatica in the neck, which is bad enough in the leg, in the neck its more complex.

good luck