There are some things a post-30-year-old body simply cannot do, and if you need a reminder, you can bet your knees will show up to deliver it.
Or your back, or your hips, or whatever joint your body has chosen as a lifelong nemesis. In the case of TikTok user Tahj (@t.ahhj), that physical arch-rival seems to be her ankles, and they gave her a necessary reminder of their limitations in a moment immortalized by the glorious power of the web.
Poor Tahj was just trying to show off some new shoes, but she took things one challenging movement too far and swiftly paid the price. A side-splitting 25-second video showcases her downfall, as Tahj peeps the shoes — a pair of comfortable-looking clogs — attempts a bit of casual cavorting, and ends up with an audible lesson in her ankle’s limitations.
The sound of Tahj’s ankles cracking is still echoing across nearly 4 million screens to scar every user who stumbled across the viral video. It genuinely sounds like this woman shattered her ankles — as a Millennial with gravel for knees myself, I rushed to the comments to ensure that she wasn’t mid-way through an ankle replacement.
Thankfully, Tahj’s ankle issue sounds far worse than it is. While that cracking will make anyone with a retirement goal wince, her ankles are far more bark than bite. The second half of her video shows the TikToker in stitches, giggling madly over the viral bait her ankles produced, and admitting that she’ll “never be like MJ, because damn.”
Even better than Tahj’s own amusement at her video is that of commenters, who quickly leaned on the MJ vibes to deliver a frequently delivered reference to the Prince of Pop. Dozens of people peppered the comment section with “Annie are you ok,” posed both rhetorically and literally, as they wondered after the ankle-less future Tahj has in store.
That popping sure didn’t sound good, but not all popping joints are signs of a serious issue. In fact, most cases of popping ankles aren’t anything to be worried about, so long as its not accompanied by swelling or pain. The most common cause of popping — both in the ankles and elsewhere — is the release of gas from your joint capsule, or sometimes your tendons rubbing over your bones. Regardless, its a thoroughly common occurrence — particularly in those willing to test their bodies against a challenge of Michael Jackson proportions.
Tahj — who’s ankles are “still tingling,” by the way — is doing just fine, despite the recent challenge to her joints. In a followup video she addressed questions — the clogs were a delivery request from her professor, and they are, in fact, quite comfortable — and assured viewers that she and her ankles are still on speaking terms. She didn’t break anything, or separate any tendons from their typical home, she simply got a noisy note of protest after trying something best left to the pros — new ankles are expensive, after all.