OPINION From rice water for hair to taping the mouth shut at night, an expert investigates the social media platform’s most bizarre health trends. It makes sense that with limited NHS resources and long waiting times, people are looking wherever they can for health advice, with one in five turning to TikTok and one in three to YouTube in search of health information before seeing a healthcare professional, according to one US report. What concerns me is that a lack of regulation means some unqualified people can give potentially dangerous advice.
“Health hacks” that work for one person may not be the best approach for another, and there is no medical professional advising on this. It can lead to people delaying medical treatment too as they adopt “TikTok trends” in the first instance of symptom presentation. But choose your sources wisely and social media can be a positive place for qualified professionals to share important health messaging and reach more targeted audiences.
If I take myself as an example, I treat cancer patients by day but as little budget is spent on prevention, I use my online presence to raise awareness about topics such as cancer screening to younger audiences. And there are others, like I do, who are sharing legitimate health advice out there. So here are the TikTok trends we can learn from and the ones we should ignore.
Rice water hair: Ignore @Ella’s Harmony RICE WATER 💧 Hot to make rosemary water? Rice water is great but careful if yo.
