I cracked my husbands neck and thought I killled him

I cracked my first neck today...on my husband. I heard it crack and freaked out!! He thought that I thought I killed him...he laughed for like 10 mintues straight!!!

Originally Posted by musclemilk619

I heard Dr. Oz is doing a bit about this technique on his show next week.....

Originally Posted by modsar

I cracked my first neck today...on my husband. I heard it crack and freaked out!! He thought that I thought I killed him...he laughed for like 10 mintues straight!!!

You actually did kill him. Unfortunately until Hailey Joel Osment can verify this, you'll be shacking up with a ghost.

It's quite scary... my classmate and I practice on eachother a few times a week. Not sure if I would feel comfortable with my spouse yet - but good job

How effect is this for back neck pain? I saw the segment on Dr. Oz where the DO PM&R physician did it. It definitely looked legit. Maybe I am just desperate bc I have recently been noticing lots of neck pain/stiffness. There is a student run OMM clinic near me (local osteopathic school) and I want to make an appointment.

How effect is this for back neck pain?

Here is a 2010 review article in a journal on manipulation, by chiropractic researchers. It concludes "Spinal manipulation/mobilization is effective in adults for: acute, subacute, and chronic low back pain; migraine and cervicogenic headache; cervicogenic dizziness" and "thoracic manipulation/mobilization is effective for acute/subacute neck pain". However, it also states that evidence is inconclusive for a number of other treatments, including "cervical manipulation/mobilization alone for neck pain of any duration, and for manipulation/mobilization for mid back pain".
Source: Chiropr Osteopat. 2010; 18: 3.

Another article in a family practice journal states that manipulation for low back pain is unsupported, and may not be cost-effective.
Source: Am Fam Physician. 2012 Feb 15;85(4):343-350.

So, the literature isn't exactly consistent. Personally, I've seen some good results from shadowing a couple OMM docs, but N≈15 patients doesn't make a good data set, and I wasn't able to follow up with any of them. I also believe that skill and training have a lot to do with the results, whereas any prescription for X mg of Y drug is the same no matter who prescribes it, diagnosis skill aside.

Edit: On topic, if you localize well enough, you really shouldn't need that much rotation or force. For example, I've had a neck click back into place several times just by approaching the barrier while I was localizing. I usually don't need to go much beyond ~45 degrees rotation or sidebending for C2-7.

Originally Posted by napsilan

Edit: On topic, if you localize well enough, you really shouldn't need that much rotation or force. For example, I've had a neck click back into place several times just by approaching the barrier while I was localizing. I usually don't need to go much beyond ~45 degrees rotation or sidebending for C2-7.

You mean you made some noise come out of your neck. What do you mean by "click back into place"? Was something out of place to begin with?

Example from yesterday: A friend had a C5 or 6 that was FRS right, so it was out of place to begin with. I sidebend indirect (right) at the segment around 45 degrees, and apply some traction. I then rotate the segment direct (left) about his thorax's vertical axis to again about 45 degrees to find the barrier. Without any thrust, I heard a click, set his head back down and rechecked. The dysfunctional segment was still present, so I repeated the above procedure, heard another click, and rechecked again. This time the segment was no longer dysfunctional. He commented that he felt much better.

As far as "click back into place", I suppose the easiest analogy is cracking your knuckles, although it's not perfect. You have a finger joint that doesn't flex as much as it should, you apply a force, hear a pop, and now your finger joint has a larger range of motion.

Originally Posted by napsilan

Example from yesterday: A friend had a C5 or 6 that was FRS right, so it was out of place to begin with.

Out of place, or not moving as it should?

Originally Posted by napsilan

I sidebend indirect (right) at the segment around 45 degrees, and apply some traction. I then rotate the segment direct (left) about his thorax's vertical axis to again about 45 degrees to find the barrier. Without any thrust, I heard a click, set his head back down and rechecked. The dysfunctional segment was still present, so I repeated the above procedure, heard another click, and rechecked again. This time the segment was no longer dysfunctional. He commented that he felt much better.

As far as "click back into place", I suppose the easiest analogy is cracking your knuckles, although it's not perfect. You have a finger joint that doesn't flex as much as it should, you apply a force, hear a pop, and now your finger joint has a larger range of motion.

So is the goal to produce a popping sound? Is that where the benefits come from?

I absolutely suck at cervical HVLA. It's weird--I can localize forces ok for thoracic, lumbar, sacral...but can't get a neck to go. My lab partners tell me I lack "oomph" in my hands. Help! I'm not a wimp except it seems in my wrists.

Originally Posted by modsar

I cracked my first neck today...on my husband. I heard it crack and freaked out!! He thought that I thought I killed him...he laughed for like 10 mintues straight!!!

Hahaha. Last weekend I had to bribe my husband to let me do HVLA on his neck as well. It took an hour of convincing and he ended up with a head massage, hand massages and dinner for letting me fix his neck (not a bad deal, right!?!?).
He kept guarding in the set up so I finally did soft tissue until he wasn't paying attention.. then POP! probably 8 loud cracks. He freaked out and immediately checked to make sure he could move his legs.... baby.
I believe his exact words were "if you paralyze me, it may put a strain on our marriage"

Originally Posted by nads1219

Hahaha. Last weekend I had to bribe my husband to let me do HVLA on his neck as well. It took an hour of convincing and he ended up with a head massage, hand massages and dinner for letting me fix his neck (not a bad deal, right!?!?).
He kept guarding in the set up so I finally did soft tissue until he wasn't paying attention.. then POP! probably 8 loud cracks. He freaked out and immediately checked to make sure he could move his legs.... baby.
I believe his exact words were "if you paralyze me, it may put a strain on our marriage"

Hoping you're not 'Pre-Medical' currently?

Nope! Not pre-med. I guess I should update my profile OMS1

i notice that some D.O. students complain about a bunch of different aspects of OMM. in any case, as a straight male pre-med, i do not understand why any single male D.O. student would pass up an opportunity to touch a sports-bra-wearing female in class. actually, that goes for anyone regardless of orientation. that is a pretty glorious perk, if you ask me.

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Um yeah, it would take much more than "massage" to bribe my husband.... Ahem of course it's a moot point since he's 700 miles away so not convenient for practice ;(

Originally Posted by primadonna22274

Um yeah, it would take much more than "massage" to bribe my husband.... Ahem of course it's a moot point since he's 700 miles away so not convenient for practice ;(

I hear you! My husband is about a 5 hour car ride away... booo medical school (in that regard).

And to the person who commented on women in sports bras-
1) look around at the women around you, do you want to see all of them in sports bras?
2) they don't want to see you shirtless.
3) people like you, sitting on your partner's pubic tubercles for 10 full minutes, make the class painful for the rest of us.