Question
My 2 year old daughter's neck makes a load clicking/knocking sound when she turns her head from side to side.  If I hold my hand on her neck and upper back, I can also feel the click.  She had no injury that I know of and her neck looks fine. She does not complain about her neck at all.

Our doctor said that she does not think it is serious.

Is it serious, should I take her for a scan or to a specialist?
What could cause it in toddlers?

Answer

Nadine,

With the clicking/knocking you are describing this would be abnormal in a child so young. Most children will fall on average 5000 times just learning to walk. There are many injuries that could have occurred. Injuries to the neck can occur as early as the birth process. Most people don't realize that a new born has no muscles to resist strong pulling on the neck that can happen during the birth process. Also children can fall off the changing table, hit their head on the coffee table etc.

Can you picture in your mind a bowling ball on a stick. A childs head is basically a bowling ball atop of a little body. So they will tend to fall a lot learning to walk. A slip or fall can result in a misalignment in the upper neck which will effect the posture of the spine below which can result in the clicking/knocking you are describing. Spinal imbalance can take decades to start causing pain.

I would have her checked by an Upper Cervical expert to see if this is something that can be fixed.

UpperCervicalCare.com is a great website to look for Upper Cervical Doctors in your area.

Thank you for your question.

Dr. Bl鰉