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Dear Carla, 

I do not know exactly how you do your crunches, but here is one suggested way.  Get supine with your knees bent, put your palms down at your sides.  Put a real or an imaginary orange between your chin and your chest.  Raise your shoulders up 3 to 4 inches from the floor and down.  Do this 10 to 12 times slowly if you can, and repeat once.  Reverse crunches require the same position.  Bring your knees up close to your chest and then down to touch feet to floor.  Do 10 to 12 times and repeat once.  If the pain persists check out your problem with your own doctor first then perhaps with a local expert such as a Physical Therapist or Sports Medicine Doctor.

George L. Dixon, Jr. MD