I might have caused myself an injury to my neck?

Hi, I would like your opinion as to whether I might have caused myself an injury to my neck. I have a tick due to which I have, long term and deliberately, been turning my head mainly on its vertical axis (I.e to circle on the axis of my face and of the back of my head); have been doing this increasingly constantly for probably a year and some months. Tonight after doing this, I started feeling a little light-headed or dizzy, the sensation being mainly concentrated around the nape of my neck. I have also noticed very light cracking in my neck if I turn my head. These are not very strong symptoms and may be partly due to fatigue, but I am wondering if I haven’t broken, pinched or otherwise deformed something in the vertebrae around where my neck connects to my skull. Could someone please advise me as to whether I have anything to fear at this point (e.g. eventual paralysis?) I think I can try to control my aforementioned tick (I have already been scared out of doing it tonight) but is there a chance that I have caused serious damage to my upper spinal column, etc? I have no other symptoms to report except for a very light feeling of pressure/strain in the back of the neck and it is only periodic, all the sensations I described are rather light, but am checking just in case. Thanks a lot.

Age: 38
Male
Medications: Just sometimes cetirizin for allergy and headache medicine
General Information: I am an OCD and anxiety sufferer – hence the tick which I outlined in my main question.

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Dr. Deepak Patel

Hello. I don’t think you can cause a neck injury with this kind of movement. A neck injury would require some kind of major blow and it would produce extreme pain in neck, head or back or involve some kind of loss of sensation in extremities (feet, hands). Try to apply cold (ice) compresses to the affected area, this should help. If situation gets worse you may want to get a scan or x-ray to rule out any problems. Regards.