Popping sensations in your collarbone (clavicle) are fairly common.

You may feel it when you reach certain directions or move your arm and shoulder.

You may hear a “pop” or “click.”

It may or may not be painful.

Verywell / Laura Porter

Causes

Knowing some basicshoulder anatomycan help you understand why your collarbone pops.

What’s called the “shoulder complex” is made up of three bones and four joints.

The bones are:

These bones interact in complicated ways.

When you lift your arm, muscles around your shoulder contract and pull the bones in specific directions.

This makes the joints glide and slide.

Collarbone pops can happen during these motions.

The popping usually occurs at your SC or AC joint.

Causes may include:

Separation in your SC joint may cause one collarbone to push forward.

You might notice that it sticks out a bit from your breastbone.

This can cause abnormal motion that leads to popping and pain when you move your arm.

Sometimes, trauma can make a joint unstable and lead to collarbone popping.

Other times, instability is because of wear and tear or degeneration from conditions like arthritis.

If you have hypermobile joints or lax ligaments, your collarbone may pop without any particular cause.

This is more common in younger people and biological females.

They can help figure out why it’s happening.

They can check for a fracture or acute dislocation.

If you could’t move your shoulder normally, see a healthcare provider right away.

The SC joint can be the site of infection.

Both the AC and SC joints can be involved with inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Infection and inflammation can lead to joint instability.

This may cause:

If you have any of these symptoms, get urgent medical care.

Diagnosis

A physical exam is the first step in finding out why your collarbone pops.

It may involve:

Your healthcare provider may also order imaging studies.

These include:

Much of the time, this process uncovers the cause of collarbone popping.

That provides a direction for treatment.

Treatment

Treatment for collarbone popping depends on the cause of the problem.

For example, if tight muscles or tissues are responsible, treatment may focus on stretching.

Weak shoulder muscles may also cause popping.

If this is the case, strengthening those muscles may be the best treatment.

Working closely with a physical therapist is a good idea.

They can check that you’re doing the right things for your condition.

This may restore normal gliding and sliding of your joints and alleviate collarbone popping.

If trauma is causing your collarbone to pop, you may benefit from immobilization to protect your shoulder joints.

Your provider may suggest wearing aslingfor a few weeks.

It should be short-term use, though.

Wearing a sling for too long can cause a condition calledfrozen shoulder.

This condition involves a severe and painful loss of shoulder ROM.

you might avoid it by periodically doing gentlependulum exercises.

Surgery for non-painful collarbone popping is rare.

Usually, it is reserved for traumatic and painful cases of SC or AC joint popping.

Surgery may involve using a small wire to properly connect your SC or AC joints.

After surgery, you’ll likely wear a sling for several weeks while it heals.

You may benefit from a course of rehab to regain ROM, strength, and normal arm function.

Coping

Keep in mind that some episodes of collarbone popping are short-lived.

Others may be permanent.

In these cases, you may have to learn new ways of doing things to avoid the pop.

Or you may just get used to it.

A little noise coming from the joint doesn’t always signal a problem.

Summary

Your shoulder is made up of several bones and joints.

Collarbone popping can be sparked by problems with any of them.

Injury, lax ligaments, or hypermobile joints are also possible causes.

Shoulder problems can be diagnosed with a physical exam and possibly imaging.

Treatment depends on the cause.

Typical treatments include physical therapy, short-term immobilization, or surgery.

If it hurts, get treatment.

If not, you may have nothing to worry about.

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