Weird neck noises
 

I hesitated to post this, but what the heck.

The past couple months I've noticed when I move my head from side to side I can hear a strange noise (almost like crunching). No pain. When I ask my husband to listen he doesn't hear anything, so I guess it's an internal noise only I can hear.

Does anyone else have this?

Guess I'll bring it up at my next doctor's appointment -- either primary care or neuro, whichever I go to first.

Hi Kathy - - I have had this for years to varying degrees. Almost 2 years ago, they did xrays and MRI of brain and spine (when they were trying to eliminate MS as dx).

Didn't have MS - some stenosis in the neck vertabrae and 'thin' discs were reported. I guess this causes the 'sound' that only the individual can 'hear'. It doesn't hurt - and it's not causing any difficulty in my every day life - so I just ignore it.

Would be interested in what your docs say - -pls let us know.
Sue

The crunching sounds may be crepitus...this is a sound joints make as they dry out, as in osteoarthritis.

My neck has really become stiff lately and I have these sounds too. I don't have MG. I think my trifocals are a bit at fault too.;)

The most common place you can hear this is in the knees.

Have your doctor do an Xray... any arthritis or disc changes may show up that way. An MRI is more expensive but shows more detail. But you may not need one if the Xray shows "stuff".

Thanks Sue and MrsD. At least I'm not imagining things.

I'm almost 58 and had a Dexa bone density scan done in January 2010. I just looked at the results and the left femoral neck T-score was -0.9, Z-score +0.2. The neck scores are the lowest of the three areas measured for both T and Z scores.

I'll definitely bring it up at next doctor's appointment.

I used to have the "rice crispies" sound in my neck all of the time.

Mine was mostly from repetitive & forward head work postures - it puts added strain on the c spine and neck muscles. {age 48 at the time}

A very good chiro helped with a lot of my RSI/TOS & some alignment issues.
I only get very minor sounds now if I do a lot of heavy or strenuous chores - like stacking hay or rototilling the garden - did both this weekend.

Are your neck muscles tight or do you limited range of motion in your neck or shoulders?
Are you at a desk or computer often, or even doing a hobby, with arms & head forward of the body?
If so those could be a cause of the sounds.

if you do decide to see a chiro, try to find one who is NUCCA certified as they are specialized in treating neck ie cervical vertebra problems
( http://www.nucca.org )