The answer is yes if you do it yourself, but with a warning label. “You move and you might crack your back without doing much of anything,” explains Dr. Bang. “It’s natural and it happens to everyone. In that regard, it’s not bad for you.” The issue, however, is frequency. Gently cracking your back once every few days — or even once a day — isn’t necessarily a problem. But if you’re making your back go snap, crackle and pop every few hours to relieve overburdened joints, that’s a sign of a repetitive stress issue that needs to be addressed, says Dr. Bang.