Chiropractor finds TikTok fame
When Brian Meenan posted a TikTok video in April of a simple stretch for lower back pain — set to a goofy song dubbed by a fellow chiropractor — he didn’t expect much. He had no idea it was the kind of content TikTok users were craving.
“I don’t know what it was, but my views kept increasing,” he said.
Overnight, he gained 11,000 new followers. By the end of that week, he was at 40,000, and the video now has more than 8 million views.
He now realizes Americans were suffering en masse from back pain and looking for help anywhere they could get it.
“A lot of people were now forced to do schoolwork, their job, exercise at their house and hesitant to go see a doctor about their pain.”
His next video, with a stretch for
upper back pain, got nearly 3 million views.
Mr. Meenan, 29, has been working as a chiropractor for four years and opened his own practice, Premier Chiropractic Clinic, within the past year. Through TikTok, he has connected with other chiropractors, drawn patients to his Castle Shannon practice and even been contacted by a television show producer. TikTok is now partnering with him as part of its Creative Learning Fund, which provides grants to experts spreading educational information.
Mr. Meenan learned about TikTok last fall from some of his younger patients. “They were cracking up as they suggested that I try it.”
He posted his first video around Halloween using the handle @drbrian_chiropractor and added a video every week or so. Each includes special effects and his best attempt at viral TikTok dances.
“I’ve been told I have dad moves,” he said.
Things didn’t really take off until the world went into COVID-19 quarantine. Suddenly, people who couldn’t connect with friends in person were using social media apps like TikTok instead.
TikTok had the most downloads of any app in the first quarter of 2020, according to data analytics firm SensorTower. During the quarantine period, monthly first-time installs of TikTok between March and May were 54% higher than in January and February on average, according to SensorTower.
Many more people were working at home, and those with back problems had to make do without ergonomically correct desk chairs. They either couldn’t visit or weren’t comfortable seeing their regular medical providers.
Mr. Meenan’s first video took him almost an hour to make, but now he can film five or six in an hour. He makes some videos at his office and some at home, with his wife handling the camera. He’s also joined a group chat with about a dozen other chiropractors now making TikTok videos.
While many of the videos are about back pain, he’s also posted on topics such as iliotibial band stretches, plantar fasciitis and neck pain.
He has received lots of questions through TikTok from aspiring chiropractors, such as what level of education is required and which college major he suggests. He has also added videos that go beyond chiropractic concerns. One is about “popular Pittsburgh terms that no one else understands,” and another includes a recipe for granola balls.
Mr. Meenan’s office stayed open throughout the quarantine but mainly for patients in acute pain. He is now fully open, using masks and following other guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the past month, he’s started to see several patients a week who found him through TikTok.