What Is Neck Crepitus? (2025)

Table of Contents

Causes Joint Movement Arthritis Air Bubbles Injuries Poor posture When to Seek Medical Care Diagnosis Treatment Summary

Neck crepitus refers to clicking, cracking, popping, and crunching sounds in your neck when moving your head. Popping at the base of your skull can be surprising, even alarming, but common issues like tightness, stiffness, and poor posture often cause it.

Occasional neck crepitus or having the sounds without other symptoms isn't usually something to worry about. However, neck noises together with pain and tingling could point to more serious problems like arthritis or an injury.

Causes

In addition to hearing cracking, popping, and other noises, you can sometimes feel them in your neck. Neck crepitus can be caused by several conditions, including:

Joint Movement

Crepitus is often caused by stiff joints or movement of the joint's structures. For example, tendons and ligaments change tension and position when moving your neck. Popping or snapping sounds may occur when they return to their original position.

Arthritis

Cervical spondylosis is the medical name for neck arthritis caused by age-related degeneration. This condition may affect the discs, causing them to lose moisture and strength. As the discs gradually collapse, they stop cushioning the vertebrae.

Air Bubbles

Cracking and popping sounds are often the result of air bubbles that form in the joint fluids or empty spots within the joints (cavitation).

When you suddenly force the joint to move a certain way, different parts of it will briefly come apart, and open up cavities where the bubbles can form. Then, the bubbles cause a popping sound when you move.

Scientists used to think the sounds came from the bubbles popping, but research suggests it may be from the bubbles forming.

These sounds could be the cracking of your knuckles or the bending or twisting of your neck. Once you pop a joint, it won't pop again until the pressure has time to build up (usually after about 20 minutes).

Injuries

Auto accidents, whiplash, and other neck injuries lead to inflammation, tight muscles and ligaments, and damaged tissues. Any of these changes may cause cause neck crepitus.

Poor posture

Poor posture strains the muscles and ligaments supporting your neck. Slouching over or spending too much time with your head bent down ("tech neck" from looking at electronic devices) puts excessive stress on certain neck tissues, resulting in stiffness, pain, limited movement, and neck crepitus.

When to Seek Medical Care

Neck crepitus without other symptoms usually isn't a problem to worry about. However, if you're concerned about the possibility of arthritis, then seeking early treatment can help slow progressive degeneration.

Excessive neck cracking, popping, or grinding, or crepitus with other symptoms, can signal a problem like spinal instability that needs medical care.

See a healthcare provider if any of these symptoms in addition to neck crepitus:

Neck cracking frequently or with every movement
Neck pain and/or pain that radiates down your arm
Numbness or tingling
Lightheadedness
Recent neck injury
Recent neck or back surgery

Diagnosis

Your healthcare provider, an orthopedic surgeon, physical therapist, or chiropractor can examine your spine and determine what's causing your neck crepitus.

In general, neck crepitus can be diagnosed using:

Your symptoms
A physical exam
Imaging studies

During an exam, a healthcare provider will listen for neck crepitus when you do certain movements. If crepitus is chronic or causing pain, your provider may want to do imaging of your neck, like X-raysor magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Here's what they're looking for on the tests:

Cartilage wear
Fractures
Bulging or herniated discs
Ligament damage

Treatment

When treating neck crepitus, your healthcare provider creates a plan to ease your symptoms and restore spinal strength and mobility.

If there is a specific underlying cause, like an injury that needs to heal or a chronic condition needing long-term management, your healthcare provider recommends a treatment targeted to that condition.

Some common treatment options to help with neck crepitus include:

Heat: Using a hot pack can relieve tension in your muscles and/or ease pain.
Stretching: Stretching can relieve tension in thetrapeziusandlevator scapulaemuscles.
Resting: Taking it easy (for a short time) can help protect your neck from further strain.
Correcting posture: Working to improve posture can significantly relieve neck pain.
Physical therapy: Learning ways to strengthen and stretch the neck muscles will relieve tightness and provide support that treats crepitus.
Medication: Taking over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription medications may treat pain and inflammation and/or relax the neck muscles.
Massage therapy: Scheduling therapeutic massage relieves tension, boosts healing blood flow, and reduces inflammation.
Chiropractic adjustments: Receiving spinal adjustments can manage neck symptoms.
Acupuncture: Considering alternative treatments like acupuncture may ease crepitus and neck pain.
Surgery: In rare cases where the cervical spine is unstable, your healthcare provider may recommend minimally invasive surgical procedures like spinal fusion.

Summary

Neck crepitus refers to grinding, crunching, and popping that can be heard and sometimes felt if the cartilage is worn or you have gas bubbles inside the joints. Poor posture, an injury, or degenerative changes can also cause neck crepitus.

Your symptoms, a physical exam, and imaging of your neck can help a healthcare provider figure out why you have the crunching and grinding sounds. Treatments like heat, stretching and strengthening, and improving posture usually improve neck crepitus.