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Metro doctor warns parents about "salt and ice challenge"

Posted at 6:09 PM, Feb 07, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-07 19:09:44-05

Videos of the “salt and ice challenge” continue to attract millions of viewers on YouTube, and now metro doctors are warning parents and participants of the dangers of taking part.

The challenge involves pouring salt on a participant’s arm, before applying an ice cube to the spot.

The participant then tries to hold the ice as long as they can on their arm before intense pain sets in.

Doctors say the ice and salt cause a chemical reaction similar to frostbite, which can lead to a number of consequences for anyone who decides to play the game.

“It essentially kills the outer layer of the skin right away,” explained Dr. Dhaval Bhavsar of the University of Kansas Health System. “The kid who is there to prove, who's going to keep the ice there for the longest, is the one who is going to have the worst of the injuries."

Dr. Bhavsar told 41 Action News that doing the “salt and ice challenge” can often lead to blisters on the skin.

In worst case scenarios, he said some participants may need skin grafts and possibly surgery.

Dr. Bhavsar could remember a similar case he dealt with a few years ago involving a teen injured in the game.

“They challenged who would be able to keep the ice there the longest,” he explained. “The person who won had to come to the hospital."

Parents who saw videos of the challenge for the first time on Tuesday found it tough to believe that so many people were doing the activity.

“There's no way I would stand for that as a parent,” explained Mike Johnson, who has an 18-year-old son. “You don't want to see your child inflicting pain on themselves like that."

Rhonda Miller, who hadn’t heard of the challenge until Tuesday, blamed the rise of sites like YouTube and Facebook for leading to the challenge’s popularity.

“I think it's too much social media,” she said. “For a lot of kids, impressionable kids, it gives them ideas."

As of Tuesday evening, hundreds of thousands of videos had been posted to YouTube showing people taking part in the “salt and ice challenge”.

41 Action News contacted several metro hospitals on Tuesday to see if any had recently seen injuries related to the activity.

Luckily, none of the hospitals reported recently treating patients injured in the “salt and ice challenge”.

 

 

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Tom Dempsey can be reached at Tom.Dempsey@KSHB.com.

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