I would advise against it. Such activity can cause joint hypermobility, where the joints lose ligamentous support. This can lead to improper joint movement, and over years, degenerative changes (arthritis).
In chiropractic adjustments, the joints that are manually moved are determined (by X-ray, palpation, or instrumentation) to be already misaligned in some plane, or are already hypomobile. The human spine has 24 moving vertebrae, and not all of them need to be “mobilized” or adjusted. “Self-adjusting”, or cracking your own neck joints is non-specific and does not give you the same benefit as a more targeted adjustment that can not be safely performed by the patient himself /herself.
Dan Perez, DC
San Francisco Chiropractic
(415) 627-9077
