With the rise of neck cracking videos online (and resulting injuries), it is a great opportunity to warn your patients about the dangers of taking professional chiropractic adjustments into their own hands
You can go online today and find a video that explains how to do almost anything. From learning the steps you must follow to stop your washing machine from making a thudding noise during the spin cycle to videos designed to teach your children how to master their numbers and colors, the internet provides access to a wide array of do-it-yourself information. Also, unfortunately, self-chiropractic techniques such as neck cracking and back adjustments.
Yet, some video creators are using these platforms to warn others about what not to do. In a Tik Tok video that has gone viral, one of these individuals specifically suggests that people not perform their own neck cracking and chiropractic care.
A patient’s viral video warns of the risks of neck cracking and DIY chiropractic
In March, Tik Tok user Kaden Thaddeus (@ur.boi) posted a video in which he is in a hospital room, apparently after attempting to perform his own version of chiropractic according to the post statement, which says, “Don’t crack your neck. Just don’t.” In just four days, that video about the risks of neck cracking gained 3.4 million likes, 42,900 comments, and 32,600 shares.
The next day, Thaddeus posted another Tik Tok video, this time in a neck brace, explaining exactly what happened that landed him in the emergency room. In this more recent post, he states that every morning he cracks “everything.” However, on that particular day, he pushed his neck a little bit further in an attempt to get a better crack and wound up forcing his head sideways.
“I was like a Lego man,” he says in the video. “The next thing I know, I can’t turn my head to the right. It feels like someone’s stabbing me in the neck, and I’m in the emergency room.” Thaddeus goes on to post several other videos in the days following that initial hospital visit, again warning people against neck cracking and taking professional chiropractic adjustments into their own hands.
Chiropractic professionals offer their own viral Tik Tok campaigns
Some chiropractors are using this same video platform to help their patients and followers learn things they can actually do to help ease or resolve a nagging musculoskeletal issue. With 2.3 million followers and 32.4 million likes, Dr. Remix (@dr.remix) falls into this category.
For example, In March Dr. Remix posted a video showing viewers a stretch that can help relieve pain in the neck and upper back area caused by working behind a desk for long periods of time. In two days, this video was liked 32,200 times, with more than a thousand shares and hundreds of comments.
Other chiropractors are going viral for posting videos of a typical neck adjustment, such as one posted on Tik Tok by Dr. Cody (@drcody_dc) that has 1.4 million likes, over 7,000 comments, and 54,100 shares. A similar video was posted by Dr. Alex (@occhiropractor) in March which already has over 386,000 likes, 6,700 comments, and 6,200 shares.
What we can learn from these viral videos
Though you don’t always know when (or why) a video will go viral, the huge number of people who are liking, sharing, and commenting on posts involving chiropractic care suggests that there is a lot of interest in this topic. It also reinforces the value of using video as part of a successful marketing campaign, and piggybacking on other popular campaigns, videos or topics.
Marketing expert Neil Patel shares a few tips for creating a viral video. The first is to “think like a street magician.” This equates to doing something immediately to make your audience want to see more. Another tip provided by Patel is to “be a purple cow.” In other words, don’t be like everyone else. Instead, aim to be different.
Other things you can do to help your videos go viral is to make sure they are high-quality while also being practical. Also, take the time to research before recording your video, which requires that you build a viewer persona so you have a better idea of what type of visual content would be most appealing to this specific demographic.
Next, Patel suggests giving some of the people who fall into your target audience a preview of your video before you release it to everyone else. This works to build interest in your posts, which Patel says can help you gain “enough coverage to cause a PR [public relations] domino effect.”
In the case of the self neck cracking videos, it may be a great opportunity to warn your patients via your email and social media channels with a video regarding the dangers and when to come in for expert chiropractic care.
