Is it normal for my shoulders to crack

When you sign-up for our newsletter, you'll be one of the first to access breaking news, savings, and coupons at your local clinic. Symptoms of Cracking Shoulders The symptoms are simple: a clicking, cracking or popping in your shoulders, usually without pain. Causes of Cracking Shoulders Muscle Tendons Moving Although there could be any number of causes for clicking shoulders, a common one is the muscle tendons moving or flicking across the bony structures in your shoulder.

Other Minor Causes of Cracking Shoulders Scapulothoracic bursitis: Caused by an inflammation of the bursa, which helps glide movement between the two surfaces.

Labral tears: Damage to the larum, which is a cartilaginous structure that holds the shoulder together. Sometimes people with these growths have no other symptoms. Sometimes, working out or simply raising your shoulders quickly can release gas from your joints, like what happens when you crack your knuckles.

This kind of sound is related to cavitation, or air bubbles in your joints. The exact mechanism of how this happens is unclear. As you age, the spongy cartilage that keeps your bones from rubbing against each other can start to break down.

A snapping or cracking sound in your shoulder could mean your bones are making contact with each other as a result. The sound of grating or cracking can be an early symptom of arthritis. But if your joint cracking is accompanied by pain, it could certainly be a symptom of an injury or another health condition.

If the pain you experience follows a recent injury, there could be an internal muscle strain, tear, or fracture that needs to be addressed. Your shoulder might feel fine until you try to move it in certain directions. Common treatments for recurring shoulder pain include:. In other cases, over-the-counter pain relievers might be all you need. In some cases, home remedies are enough to treat shoulder pain.

If your shoulders simply crack or pop occasionally without causing you a great deal of discomfort, you might want to try treating your crepitus at home. Consider trying a few of these home remedies when you feel your shoulder popping:. Good posture can end chronic shoulder pain for some people. Foam rollers , frequently used by physical therapists, are relatively inexpensive and can be easily purchased for home use.

These rollers stimulate the soft tissue in your shoulder. If your shoulder pain is caused by soreness, sitting all day, or poor posture, at least one study suggests that this kind of manual therapy can help.

Research tells us that yoga may be an effective way to minimize and improve shoulder pain over time. Yoga has the added benefit of improving posture and breathing while you practice. So what causes shoulder popping, clicking, or cracking in the first place? It can be any number of things, ranging from a recent injury to minor everyday strains finally becoming too much to live with and therefore requiring medical intervention.

So, when any of these elements are inflamed or injured, a grinding, popping, clicking, or cracking feeling can occurred. And when tendons or other tissues become inflamed, they swell and cause everything to tighten up and make grinding, popping, clicking, snapping, or cracking sounds. If any of these tissues and structures are injured or simply inflamed, the smoothly functioning shoulder can cause popping, snapping or clicking.

Calcific tendonitis could also cause your shoulder joints to snap, pop, crack, or grind. There can be any number of things that cause shoulder cracking or clicking, but a common one — and what causes that unique feeling and sound — is the muscle tendons in your shoulder moving across the bone. These tendons are extremely elastic and strong, like guitar strings. And they act like guitar strings when they move or vibrate across the bones of the shoulder, causing the various clicking, popping, or cracking noises.

If your shoulder recently started clicking, cracking, popping, or making any other unusual noises or causing you pain, you may have injured the muscle somehow, therefore altering its shape or the track or groove in which it operates.

Unfortunately, with all these moving parts, shoulder injuries are common and can happen to anyone. Simply moving your shoulder can cause a popping noise. But is it a sign of something worse?

The actual sound or feeling of a popping or cracking joint is called crepitus. However, if the popping is accompanied by pain or warmth, it could be something serious. Your shoulder joint includes spongy cartilage to prevent your bones from rubbing together, sort of like a safety cushion. As we age, that helpful cartilage begins to break down, which can make our bones rub together painfully and can result in a popping sound.

In this case, that sound could be a sign of arthritis. The labrum is a piece of the spongy cartilage that cups the ball-shaped joint in your shoulder, where your upper arm bone connects to the shoulder. Shoulder muscles help keep the labrum in place. However, it can tear due to injury or repetitive motion.