Creators on the popular platform have shared videos of themselves dropping objects – including a vacuum cleaner, a glass jug and a wooden table – on their feet and ranking how painful each item is.
The hashtag #droppingthingsonmyfoot has featured on hundreds of videos.
One user, Luke Pilling, received more than 3.8 million views for a video that shows him jumping around his room in pain after dropping a toaster, air fryer and computer monitor on his lowest extremity.
Asked why he decided to join the trend, the 19-year-old sales adviser told the PA news agency: “Curiosity and just because it was funny. I love making content and I just like laughing at myself.”
However, Dr Benjamin Bullen, lecturer in podiatric medicine at Ireland’s University of Galway, said these activities could risk lasting damage. “I find the trend troubling and strongly encourage readers not to engage in the challenge. It is highly likely to result in foot injuries,” he told PA.
“TikTok is particularly popular among young people, who may be setting themselves up for a lifetime of pain and disability if they significantly damage the nerves, bones and joints of their feet.”
After the success of his first video, Pilling made more foot-crushing content in an effort to build his platform. However, he said a video of him dropping a drill on his foot was taken down after it breached TikTok community guidelines.
He believes the trend has become so popular because “people like seeing people in pain”, but urged others to consider the weight of objects involved.
“I think it’s funny when you’re going to drop something that’s moderately going to hurt, but if it’s genuinely going to injure you and take up the national health service’s time, then that’s when it gets a bit too much,” he said.
Another user, Reece Brierley, initially convinced himself he would not recreate the trend but said he wanted “to know how it felt”.
The 25-year-old shared a video of him wincing in pain after dropping his dog, an old toaster, and a vacuum cleaner on his foot, which received more than 337,000 views. He ranked the toaster a score of seven out of 10 for pain.
Brierley believes social media users enjoy watching people’s real-time reaction to pain. “If you follow a person, you follow them for them and their personality,” he told PA. “If you’re just being you when things land on your feet and your reactions are quite funny, people will just watch it for you and your reaction.”
While he found the trend amusing, Brierley acknowledged the activity is “pretty stupid”, adding: “I do not advise anybody to do it.”