If you have a habit of cracking your neck, you're going to want to read this... or maybe just take our word for it and stop cracking your neck.
In a new viral video, a TikToker details what happened when his neck-cracking habit went terribly wrong—so wrong, in fact, that he ended up in the emergency room and is now wearing a cervical collar.
Literally and sincerely don't try this at home.
In the first of two videos, TikToker Kaden Thaddeus, who goes by the name @ur.boi on the platform, filmed himself in a hospital bed with a most sobering caption:
"Don't crack your neck. Just don't."
In a follow-up video, Thaddeus explained what went terribly wrong—while wearing the cervical collar he was forced to wear after the incident.
So how did a simple neck crack end up with an ER visit and a cervical collar?
As Thaddeus explained:
"As I do every morning, I wake up and I crack everything. I crack my back, my knuckles, my neck, it's just natural for me. But this morning, I felt a crack so deep in my neck, I'm like, 'If I push my neck just a little bit farther, I'll get to that crack'."
You can probably tell where this is going.
Thaddeus continued:
"So I pushed and it didn't come. So I pushed a little harder. And then I slipped a little bit..."
If you're recoiling in horror, you're not alone—what happened next is kind of gruesome.
"Bro, my head was, like, sideways. I was like a Lego man ... And next thing I know, I can't turn my head to the right, it feels like someone's stabbing me in the neck and I'm in the emergency room."
Thaddeus didn't specify what exactly happened to his neck, but a CT scan and a lot of pain was involved.
The story left his fellow TikTokers terrified.
@dullcet/TikTok
@katiew419/TikTok
@apocalysstic/TikTok
@erinfoulger__/TikTok
@sydneyhettinger/TikTok
Though some inveterate neck crackers were totally unfazed.
@caramelloveslife/TikTok
@catastrophe_03/TikTok
@evbo22/TikTok
@kayluhh17/TikTok
@emileighc/TikTok
Just leave your joints alone, okay?
Mavourneen Michiels/Facebook
Kathy Simmons/Facebook
Danielle Marie Gates/Facebook
@covie_93/Threads
@Andy/X
@Andy reply to @ChassieBlu/X
@pumptinis/X