These Viral Back-Cracking Videos Are Supposed To Be “Satisfying,” But They’re Making Us Wince

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These days, falling down a YouTube rabbit hole is easier done than said. A few thoughtless clicks can lead to endless reels of pimple-popping, dandruff-scraping, ear wax removal, and chewing ASMR. Our latest tumble introduced us to yet another viral trend that has us questioning the human race: back-cracking videos.

Like the other aforementioned videos, back-cracking vids are not for the faint of heart. In fact, most of the comments posted below these videos mark the timestamps where it looks as though the person getting cracked has died.

“9:59 that awkward moment when you crack someones back and realize that you’ve just killed them,” YouTube user David Gonzales commented on a video entitled, “BEST OF 14 MINS of Back, neck cracking compilation popping pressing chiropractic adjustments.” Another user commented, “Guy at 9:58 be looking at the camera like ‘damn, lost another one.'”

If the content is so wince-worthy, people can’t possibly be enjoying it, right? Judging by the 3.6 million viewers and 10,000 people who gave “BEST OF 14 MINS” a thumbs up, some are obviously finding pleasure in the pain.

Although we just caught wind of this trend, back-cracking fanatics have been watching these videos for several years. One video called “The Great Neck/Back Cracking Compilation Volume 3” was posted in February 2015 and has amassed almost 4 million views in just over three years.

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And just like Dr. Pimple Popper and ScratchingMyScalpOff, entire YouTube channels are dedicated to cracking videos. ChiroCore, for example, exclusively posts chiropractic adjustment videos. They have 321,000 subscribers and a combined total of 115,371,380 views from all their uploads.

12 million of those views came from one video alone — “53+ Minute ASMR Chiropractic Adjustment Compilation.” That’s a lot of cracks, people.

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We suppose we “get” the back-cracking craze. We won’t be joining the cracking community any time soon, but we sort of get the appeal. Some people really love a good snap of the neck or pop of the spine. Again, we don’t, but others do.

If you find these videos to be satisfying, then so be it. Just don’t try any of those chiropractor moves at home.

Olivia Harvey