A doctor has detailed a terrifying reason why you really shouldn't be cracking your neck, no matter how satisfying it may be.
Just like cracking your knuckles, there's something rather nice about doing it but if done incorrectly - or too often - it can be dangerous.
While it is often harmless, one doctor has explained how one woman was in need of medical assistance after cracking her neck, and it really should be a warning not to do it.
Advert
In response to a fellow TikToker's video where she broke her neck with her 'own hands', Dr Ever Arias said: "So there was a 20-something-year-old patient that walked into the emergency room after she said that she's tried to crack her neck and after the second time that she cracked it she heard a snap and started having a lot of pain.
"She walked into the emergency room after being seen and getting scanned we found that she had a cervical compression fracture."
According to Cleveland Clinic, a compression fracture is a 'break in a vertebra (a bone in your spine)', which leads to the bone collapsing.
As for this patient's diagnosis, Dr Arias added: "Basically she also was found to have a diagnosis of hypermobility syndrome and because of that she was very mobile.
"What happened is that she ended up flexing her neck a little bit too much and started having the compression fracture."
The medic went on to explain he's even seen people come in after having a stroke due to a 'chiropractor manipulating their neck'.
He added: "So it's important that if you're going to a chiropractor you tell them, ‘Don't touch my neck’. It's also important to understand that I never, never try to, you know, crack any of my neck joints or anything like that because oftentimes that can lead to some damage.
"You could also cause your own vertebral artery dissection or other injuries to vessels in the structure of the neck. It’s a very delicate structure here, so just hopefully you use that information to never crack your neck again."
There are a few other symptoms you can develop as a result of neck cracking according to Healthline, including blood clotting that can be seriously dangerous.
You see, cracking your neck too hard or even too often can puncture one of these blood vessels, which in turn can block blood flow to the brain.
So it's probably best to give it a rest.
Callum Jones