Posts made by John

I can crack my back by pulling the skin..

After a car accident, I was in physical therapy, and while I was face down on the table, one of the therapists was moving my back and made a comment about my skin being easy to work with. She then grabbed a pinch of skin right over my spine and pulled upward. My spine popped! I asked if she just cracked my back by pulling up the skin. She said yes. Wow. So I tried it myself. It works! I reach around my lower back with both arms and grab my skin on either side of my spine and pull out. I can get one or two solid cracks there. I also reach over my shoulder and grab with one hand between the tops of my shoulder blades and I get one solid crack there.

Also, I found I can do this technique on my elbows! I love that one.
I seem to recall trying this on my knees and I don't remember it being successful.

As I mentioned in another post, I crack my ear cartilage, and last night it moved more than usual and made a loud sound. Today it still hurts.

I can pop the lower portion of my ear by either pulling the lobe outward at about a 45 degree angle, or by placing my forefinger on the ledge just above the lobe and my thumb on the upper portion of the back of my lobe and pulling at that same angle.

Also, I can pop the upper cartilage.
there are two ways I do it.

1. I form a "trigger finger" with my forefinger and place it against my head in the top front corner of my ear, then hook over the top of my ear with my thumb and grip it between those two fingers. Then I place the rest of my fist along side my head and pull out and down, using my pinky knuckle as the fulcrum. If my hand is sweaty or greasy, I use a cloth for grip. This yields a highly textured sound and was kind of scary the first time I did it. The ear really shifts when I do this.

My four year old watched me do it and he wanted to try. I did it to him and it worked, but we have since agreed it's just not his thing, nor is any crack. He says cracking hurts.

2. If I place my thumb (the thumbprint part) on the inside of the top of my cartilage so that the contours match, and my forefinger hooking over the top of the ear pointing toward the back of my head, I pull straight up, and it pops. It is a quieter and crisper crack than the first method.

This method was actually my first introduction to ear popping. I was the "uke" in a martial arts headlock escape that involves pulling the attacker's ear. I resisted slightly and it popped. Everyone in the class heard it.

Tonight I tried this second method of popping the upper cartilage and it popped with a more textured sound, and shifted the ear more. It scared me and hurt a little. Half an hour later, after researching the internet, signing up for a jointcrackers account, and typing this entry, it still is sensitive and warm. Should I be worried? Anyone else had this experience?

On a similar note, I saw some entries on this site about cracking other cartilage: the nose, sternum and p***s. I have done all these. The latter has happened three times, all while e***t (pushing the corona downward with the base of the shaft as the fulcrum) and all by accident. It scares me too much to do it on purpose!

Any research out there on cartilage cracking?