- A chiropractor shared an exercise on TikTok intended to improve posture
- Poor posture can lead to pain and other lasting health consequences
- READ MORE: I’m a doctor. This is what you should eat if you have back pain
A chiropractor in Colorado has shared a 10-minute exercise that can reverse stooped posture, which affects one in 10 Americans.
Dr. Daniel Nye, a chiropractor at Discover Chiropractic, posted a video on TikTok demonstrating that lying on your back with your feet on a chair can improve posture.
In the video, which has been viewed 44.6 million times as of 2021, Dr. Nye shows a woman with a hunched back while using her cell phone.
He grabs a chair and makes the woman lie on the floor, with her feet up.
Text on the screen then tells you to roll up a towel and spread your hands on the floor. Dr. Nye places the towel behind the woman’s head.
Dr. Nye advises his 183,000 followers to do the exercise for 10 minutes every day.
Dr. Daniel Nye, a chiropractor in Colorado, posted a video on TikTok showing that lying on your back with your feet on a chair can improve posture
Text on the screen then tells you to roll up a towel and spread your hands on the floor. Dr. Nye places the towel behind the woman’s head. Dr. Nye advises his 183,000 followers to do the exercise for 10 minutes every day
He doesn’t specify how many days it takes to see results.
A survey by the American Chiropractic Association shows that one in ten Americans suffer from poor posture.
The most common culprits are sitting at a desk all day, looking at a cell phone, and lounging on the couch.
Chronic slouching can cause back and neck pain, as well as other chronic conditions.
For example, according to Harvard Health, poor posture can increase the risk of stress incontinence, in which the bladder leaks a little urine after you cough or sneeze.
Slouching increases pressure in the abdomen, putting pressure on the bladder. This chronic pressure weakens the pelvic floor muscles and leads to a greater risk of incontinence.
Poor posture also shortens and strains muscles, leading to reduced flexibility and reduced range of motion in your joints.
A survey by the American Chiropractic Association shows that one in ten Americans suffer from poor posture
Years of slouching also weakens the spine, making it more susceptible to injury.
A hunched back can even worsen mental health, a study shows San Francisco State University suggests.
Participants were asked to think twice about positive and negative experiences: once while sitting upright, and once while sitting slumped.
The students who sat slouched recalled negative experiences more easily than those who sat upright.
Several TikTok users praised Dr. Nye.
A user called ChickenNugget said: ‘I’m doing this like this, I’m tired of looking like Quasimodo all the time.’
“Who else straightened their back straight away?” Andy said.
Teaaaaafernando said, “Who immediately changed their attitude when they saw this?”