I wonder if anyone has any suggestions (e.g. wearing a collar) for an arthritic neck problem. I have osteoarthris in various joints and lately my neck (could be jaw as well) is cracking and creaking when I move in a certain way. I can't actually pinpoint the particular movement or I would try to stop doing it! I'm not in pain so much but I find the noise of the cracking vertebrae echoes right up through my head and I do seem to have a constant background headache. My left shoulder is also on the way out and pain does radiate up that side of my neck. There doesn't seem a lot of point going to the GP and I already do head twists to try to keep things mobile, funnily enough the twists don't cause any cracking or pain. Anybody else being deafened by noisey vertebrae?
Have you been to a physiotherapist? They will be more helpful than a GP.
I don't think your neck making cracking noises is unusual. My husband and I both have that happen and he does not have anything wrong with his neck that is not old-age related. I do have arthritis in my neck. However if you're experiencing some radiating pain on one side I think you need to get that checked out. Physical therapy will be a good step in the right direction but you probably should have an MRI done on your neck to check for any defects.