Cracking your neck? Then stop. (Picture: Getty)
From girl dinners to Madonna squats, TikTok regularly gets us obsessed with the most niche content.
At the moment, chiropractors are having their moment in the spotlight – specifically, videos where patients get their necks, backs and joints cracked.
However, while they might be weirdly addictive to watch, a doctor has warned TikTok users against getting this kind of treatment.
They’re also worried that users will try the methods at home, sharing stark warnings against doing so.
Taking to TikTok, Dr Ever Arias was just one expert who shared his advice.
Speaking to his 136,200 followers, Dr Arias noted how one of his patients, aged 20, had visited the hospital after hearing a snapping noise during a session with her chiropractor.
The patient had actually suffered a cervical compression fracture – essentially a broken neck, caused by compression or pressure on the bone.
Such fractures can be treated properly by wearing a brace for up to eight weeks, but more serious breaks may require surgery and months spent in a cast.
Dr Arias also warned of other serious conditions that can be brought on by these cracking sessions.
‘It’s important to understand that if you crack your neck there’s a couple situations that you could put yourself in,’ Dr Arias explained. ‘I see that is sometimes people come in with strokes and they had a chiropractor manipulate their neck – and they ended up having a vertebral artery dissection that caused them to have a stroke.’
In more simple terms, the cracking caused a tear in the wall of one of the large blood vessels in the neck, which went on to cause a stroke.
‘It’s important that if you go into a chiropractor you tell them, “don’t touch my neck,”‘ Dr Arias said.
He also says you should never try a DIY job.
‘You could cause your own vertebral artery dissection or other injuries to vessels in the structure of the neck.’
At the end of the video he added: ‘So just hopefully you use that information to never crack your neck again.’
Since being posted, the clip has over 5.4 million views and thousands of viewers took to the comments section to react. Many users said they won’t stop cracking their neck despite the warning.
‘If I don’t crack my neck I feel stiff and get a pressure pain down my back,’ one viewer wrote.
While another added: ‘Neck cracking is an addiction. I am going to need more than “never crack your neck again.”‘
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