Jimminy Cricket! is that a crick in my neck?!

I love being at the lake. At night the sounds of the crickets totally lull me to sleep. As a physical therapist, I see a fair amount of people who have complaints of a crick in their neck. This is usually described as a 'catch or a kink'. A lot of people will move their neck or roll their shoulders and ask me if I hear the noise. These noises will sometimes keep you awake, and are not nearly as soothing as the sounds of crickets at night.

In my experience, the noise that people describe as 'crunchy' comes from the upper trapezius and/or the levator scapula muscles. Sometimes it's a 'grinding' which can also originate from the spine and is thought to be due to arthritic changes.

Image from Google search upper trapezius and levator scapula

I have frequently heard from patients that they woke up with a crick in their neck. I think this generally occurs from sleeping in an awkward position.

Neck is forward, tipped to the left and turned to the right..ouch!

Sleeping with your head and neck in a somewhat neutral position can help to alleviate this. Neutral means with your ears in the same plane as your shoulders, and not tipped or turned to either side. Most of the time, these creaks, cracks and crickets are nothing to worry about. They sound worse than they are. If they cause pain, what motions can you do without pain? If they don't cause pain, can you adjust your posture and movement of your neck or shoulders to decrease the noise? For instance, if you roll your shoulders back and do the same motion, does it create the same noise?

These movements may help to decrease some stiffness throughout your neck muscles. They'll definitely create a more natural amount of movement in your spine and related musculature. None of them should hurt. They should be done slowly and thoughtfully. When done consistently, they will likely help to improve your overall posture and therefore ability to move in a pain free range of motion. Of course, if it's concerning or the pain is not manageable, please seek an assessment from your movement specialist to find out the root cause.

When in doubt, be like the Girafflamingo with your chin tucked, your neck long and find a better pair of earings than your shoulders.

Image from:

https://www.google.com/search?q=giraffe+flamingo&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=FDGeoSUcJjGIvM%253A%252CUyozP3u2fnFk0M%252C_&usg=__0WHbhoe8IawDwjJgF1r77jySIhk%3D&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiemauFt7jbAhVD5oMKHeXWBAsQ9QEILTAB#imgrc=FDGeoSUcJjGIvM: