'Scalp Popping' Is The Viral TikTok Trend Doctors Are Begging You Not To Try
TikTok is filled with trends that can be…questionable (looking at you, milk crate challenge).
The latest you should be giving the side-eye? Scalp popping. TBH, the trend is as intense as it sounds. In it, people try to yank their hair quickly to make a “popping” sound from their scalp.
But “pop” you hear is the galea aponeurotica, a tough sheet of soft tissue connected to your scalp, popping off your skull. Doctors say it's dangerous and you should not try this at home.
TikTok is filled with trends that can be…questionable (looking at you, milk crate challenge). So when a new trend pops up on the social media platform, it’s only natural to be wary of whether it’s actually safe to try.
The latest you should be giving the side-eye? Scalp popping. TBH, the trend is as intense as it sounds. In it, people try to yank their hair quickly to make a “popping” sound from their scalp.
One popular TikTok video from @yanasemerly shows a woman named Yana and her friend taking a small section of their hair, twisting it tightly, and then pulling up with some serious force. They both look surprised when they can hear a popping sound. The video has been liked nearly 834,000 times, and the comments are flooded with people who said they’re trying it too.
“I tried it. Hurts a lot and it don’t work,” one person wrote. “I had this done to me as a child and it hurt,” another said.
There are plenty of other TikToks of people trying this out, and the results are the same: They pull hard at a piece of their hair and then hear a popping sound.
Some people said in the comments of Yana’s post that the move is used in some cultures to cure certain ailments. “This thing takes away the cough in our culture,” one person said. “My mum does this when we are sick,” another said. “If you have a bad cough, it helps to ease it.”
OK, but what’s going on here? The “pop” you hear is the galea aponeurotica, a tough sheet of soft tissue connected to your scalp, popping off your skull, Anthony Youn, M.D., a Detroit-based plastic surgeon, explained in a TikTok about the trend.
This is really not something you want to try, Dr. Youn said in another TikTok.
OK, but why? You can actually cause bleeding or create a sore on your head. “Please don't do this!” he said in the comments. “It can tear the inside of the scalp, which can bleed a ton on the inside.”
So…it’s really best to take a pass on this one, OK?
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