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A 28-year-old man from Oklahoma, United States, suffered a stroke after stretching his neck.
The man, Josh Hader, had a sore neck. He tried to relieve the soreness by stretching it. After using his hand to apply pressure to his neck, Hader suddenly heard a popping sound and felt the left side of his body go numb. He tried to get an ice pack from the refrigerator but could not walk straight. His vision also became blurred.
Hader’s father-in-law eventually arrived and rushed him to the hospital. The patient was then transferred to Mercy Hospital for further treatment.
After careful examination, doctors confirmed that Hader had a stroke. A stroke is a medical condition characterized by the paralysis of the body as a result of blocked arteries.
According to the examination’s findings, Hader ruptured an artery at the back of his neck that formed a blood clot. The torn artery was found to be a direct result of the neck stretch.
Hader stayed at the ICU for four days after the stroke. Then, he underwent physical rehabilitation for him to properly walk again. He also had to wear an eye patch because one of his injured nerves weakened the muscle connected to his eye.
Dr. Vance McCollom, who treated Hader, said that tearing an artery after stretching one’s neck is very rare. Most of the time, neck stretches are fairly safe. However, the doctor cautioned that the proper way of stretching the neck is to slightly move it from one side to another and avoid twisting it.
Following the incident, Mercy Hospital posted Hader’s story on Facebook to warn others about the dangers of improperly stretching the neck.