Calls for deodorant warnings amid viral cold burn challenge on Tiktok – with children as young as TEN admitted to hospital
- Children as young as ten have played a dangerous deodorant challenge online
- Wounds are caused by very low temperatures β and are more commonly known as frostbite
Plastic surgeons have called for extra safety warnings on deodorant cans after a viral TikTok challenge led to young people causing cold burns on their skin.
The wounds are caused by very low temperatures β and are better known as frostbite. A 15-second spray of deodorant, held just two inches away, has been shown to lower skin temperature by more than 60 degrees Celsius β enough to cause the extreme burns.
Nearly 70 people – some as young as ten years old – have ended up in the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) in Newcastle upon Tyne with similar injuries. Some needed plastic surgery to repair their damaged skin.
The surge has been attributed to a social media craze in which young people film themselves spraying deodorant on their skin at close range for as long as is bearable.
The stunt leaves a red, circular mark on the skin that children then share on TikTok.
The wounds are caused by very low temperatures β and are better known as frostbite. A 15-second spray of deodorant, held just two inches away, has been shown to lower skin temperature by more than 60 degrees Celsius
A ten-year-old girl from Hertfordshire needed plastic surgery last year after freezing her skin with a deodorant can after seeing others doing the same online. Surgeons later warned that it could take up to two years for her injuries to fully heal.
RVI medics claim that self-inflicted cold burns were seen on average once every two months. About two-thirds were women and more than half were aged between 10 and 30, according to the results to be presented later this month at the annual meeting of the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS).
Research leader and plastic surgery registrar Connor Barker says: ‘The influence of social media on young people cannot be underestimated.’
Twenty years ago, he adds, cold burns were virtually unheard of.
Mr Barker says deodorant cans must now carry a warning explaining that spraying them close to the skin can lead to life-changing injuries.
βThey have warnings about flammability and solvent inhalation, but don’t recognize these specific harms,β he adds.
Researchers also called for cold burn patients arriving at emergency rooms to be questioned about the causes of the wounds, to identify those who may need psychological support.
Consultant plastic surgeon and BAPRAS president Mani Ragbir says: ‘This is an alarming, preventable problem affecting children. It requires immediate attention.’