Does the Crack Mean It Worked? What Research Found

A hundred adults in Belgium were asked what the crack in a spine is. About half said a bone going back into place. Only about one in ten said gas. Hal puts the sound on a corkboard and checks six clues. Renava (a place to build the habit of moving, not a treatment): https://renava.app/ App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/posture... Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/de... Hal runs the case of one sound, the crack. What it is physically (a real-time MRI of a knuckle), whether a bone goes back in, whether a louder pop means more relief, what spinal manipulation does for back pain compared with other options, what is known about the neck, and a man who cracked one hand's knuckles for decades. Many of the studies come from chiropractors, physical therapists and manual therapy researchers, and Hal reads them as such. The verdicts are Hal's own reading of published studies. Hal is a retired manual therapist, not a doctor. He can't diagnose or treat you. This video is general information, not medical advice. After any neck treatment, a sudden one-sided headache, dizziness, trouble speaking or seeing, or weakness on one side: call the emergency number. With back pain, numbness or weakness in both legs, numbness around the genitals or bottom, bladder or bowel changes, or after a serious accident: emergency too. Fever or chills: urgent care today. Weight loss you can't explain, or pain that is worse at night: see a doctor soon. If you take blood thinners, have a higher risk of bleeding or stroke, or very weak bones, ask a doctor before anyone manipulates your spine. Chapters: 0:00 Cold open 0:50 Clue one: what is the sound? 2:17 The urge 3:03 Clue two: did it go back in? 5:02 Clue three: does the crack predict relief? 6:21 Clue four: then who did it? 7:58 Clue five: the neck 10:59 Clue six: the man with two hands 12:35 Case closed Main sources: Kawchuk 2015, Real-time visualization of joint cavitation (PLoS ONE): https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.... Tullberg 1998, Manipulation does not alter the position of the sacroiliac joint (Spine): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9615363/ Flynn 2003, The audible pop is not necessary for successful spinal high-velocity thrust manipulation in individuals with low back pain: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12881... Moorman 2022, Impact of audible pops associated with spinal manipulation on perceived pain: a systematic review: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36195... Rubinstein 2019, Benefits and harms of spinal manipulative therapy for chronic low back pain (BMJ): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30867... Biller 2014, Cervical arterial dissections and association with cervical manipulative therapy (AHA/ASA statement): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25104... deWeber 2011, Knuckle cracking and hand osteoarthritis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21383... Music: MUSIC_CREDITS_TO_BE_ADDED_BY_MAIN_AGENT Sound effects: knuckle crack by pwausc1 via Freesound (CC0). Images and film clips: Kawchuk GN, Fryer J, Jaremko JL, Zeng H, Rowe L, Thompson R (2015), Real-time visualization of joint cavitation, PLoS ONE 10(4): e0119470, figures 2 and 3 and Supporting information S1 Video (real-time MRI of a knuckle), CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., cropped and shortened; Wellcome Collection, Sarah Mapp, bonesetter of Epsom, coloured etching by George Cruikshank after William Hogarth, 1819 (CC BY 4.0), and wood engraving after Hogarth (CC BY 4.0), cropped; Henry Vandyke Carter, Gray's Anatomy (figures 93, 337 and 338; public domain). iPhone and App Store are trademarks of Apple Inc. Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.