@conscentity:

Having a migraine after an adjustment or cracking the atlas sounds scary. Maybe, it's letting the signals through the nervous system through that were restricted before the adjustment and it's causes the headache? I had a friend who would have headaches after getting his neck adjusted by the chiropractor afterwards. You may want to consult a doctor about that to make sure you aren't doing any damage when cracking. I don't know if other's can do it. I'm sure there are some out there who can.

Sorry, I should clarify: I've had a migraine after an adjustment from a chiropractor - never from doing this Atlas crack myself. The migraines I got after the chiropractor were from this one chiropractor I only saw twice (my regular chiro left the practice). This new guy used to work on athletes apparantly and he wasn't used to working on smaller women (I'm only five feet tall). When he adjusted me he would like, WIND up and then "WHAM" bring all his weight down. It was too hard. I felt sick afterwards and got a migraine both times I saw him….... I've had a slight headache after I crack the Atlas myself but never a migraine from it. When I went to my regular chiropractor (not the "sports medicine" guy) I would often have a slight headache after I left from the adjustment.

Interesting - thank-you for showing me that - that must be it. I wonder if it's unusual that I can crack this myself? (and whether my "technique" would work for others or whether it's just a unique feature of my anatomy?) It's one of those ones that I get a HUGE relief from afterwards but sometimes a headache too (same as when I was seeing a chiropractor on a regular basis. A few times I left the office with a migraine after an adjustment).

I HAVE to crack my hips every day or they ache like crazy (sitting down I just lean forward and they both will crack as I lean to each side). When I get up in the morning I used to have to crack both shoulders (would hold my hands together above my head and lean backwards - this would also crack my sternum) but I broke my arm a few years ago and now the shoulders don't crack "on command" anymore. They'll NEED to crack but I can't make them do it! Drives me insane. I can still do the sternum though (same way). That's it for my daily ritual…... my shoulders are subluxable so they pop in and out of joint a lot - don't know if this is related to the need to crack or not......

Oh, forgot to add my BIG one - base of my skull. Not sure which joint it even IS. I push on the back of my head while looking forward and there is ONE large crack. It seems to be one of the higher vertebrae in the spine....... my neck will ACHE if I don't do this one..... have to do it every day.....

Hi everybody. New member. I've always cracked my joints every day since I was a kid (in my mid 40's now). It just happened on it's own really and if I didn't do it, they would hurt (mostly my hips and shoulders. Now my sternum too for the last few years). Another new one is what I assume to be my spine very close to the base of the skull (I'm not sure which vertebrae it is but it's just one crack) I've never known or seen anyone else crack this one (that's why I'm on here - was looking up info to see if this is normal/safe to crack etc.) How I do it is I sit cross legged on the sofa and try to relax my shoulders and neck as much as possible. Looking straight ahead I reach both hands behind my head and place the tips of my fingers on the back of my head an inch or two above my spine and a few inches apart. I then quickly push my head forward with my fingers and voila - a HUGE crack from the base of my skull. I keep trying to do it in front of my boyfriend to see if it's actually as loud as it sounds to ME but of course it won't "go" when he's there. LOL.

Does anyone else do this one?