Is this safe?

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Definitely not a money question:

There is a way to "therapeutically" crack another's back. My brother told me about it. Two people are needed. The one whose back is to be cracked stands facing away from the back-cracker. The subject laces her fingers behind her neck. The back-cracker lifts the subect up, barely off her feet, holding her under her arms and elbows. The subject is firmly against the body of the back-cracker and evidently this is not a strain (?) to the back-cracker either. I think the back-cracker has to lean a little bit backward to do the lift!

Have you seen this done? Have you done it yourself?

Is it safe for both people?

[tgavin71]

In a word NO. Messing with someones back when you aren't a medical professional is just plain wrong. The consquences if something goes wrong aren't worth it. Take the person to a medical doctor.

[LuxLiving]

My brother can do this of which you speak. Safe? I wouldn't think so.

[PRICEPLUS]

Please don't let someone crack your back as they may hurt you terribly!

[Broken Arrow]

Ahem, I'm not a chiropractor and I echo tgavin's advice. Having said that....

Back in the martial arts days, we learned about anatomy in general. What hurt, what didn't, and so forth. Oddly enough, part of that training was also how to fix things when a body goes out of whack... which turns out to be very similar to what chiropractors do.

It was very common for us to fix each other's backs and necks, for example. I did it. I had others do it to me, and nowadays, when necessary, I'd do it to myself.

Again, I'm not recommending that anyone try to do this, especially on your own to yourself... but it can and does work! In fact, I find myself doing it almost daily.

What I've learned is that these techniques are only temporary fixes. For example, having a chiropractor to readjust your spine isn't going to solve the poor posture that caused it in the first place. That's why it seems like you have to keep going back for more.

But then, that's why I don't go to the chiropractor. Too much money for temporary fixes that I could just do myself anyway.

What I do recommend is to read up more on Yoga and fitness stretching in general. I think you'll find that many of the techniques in there will also inevitably address much of these pains... and you may even be able to do some of them safely on your own for the rest of your life.

[disneysteve]

This should only be done by a trained osteopathic physician or chiropractor. People should not be cracking each other's backs.