ER doctor on why you should never use dangerous barbecue grill brushes with wire bristles

By William On Feb 20, 2023

An emergency department doctor issued a warning to parents about a common grilling tool after seeing a four-year-old boy sustain a life-threatening injury from one.

The American physician, known as Dr. Beachgem onlineHe said to be careful with the BBQ brushes as the metal bristles can fall off and end up in the food.

She treated a young boy with severe ear pain and fever who stopped eating and drinking and it took 10 days of tests and scans before doctors discovered he had a brush wire lodged in his throat.

The boy was rushed into surgery and made a full recovery, but the doctor advised not to clean the grill with the brushes, as they can also cause intestinal obstructions and perforations if accidentally swallowed.

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An emergency room doctor known as Dr. Beachgem (pictured) warned against using barbecue brushes after seeing a sick child with the metal bristles lodged in his throat.

Dr. Beachgem, who is a pediatric emergency physician, called the 4-year-old’s case “the most interesting” she had had to date.

The boy was eating at a barbecue when he suddenly grabbed his ear crying and complaining of pain.

Wire bristles on grill brushes can cause serious digestive or throat injuries when swallowed.

They took him to the ER where he had a hearing test that seemed completely normal, so the parents were told to give him ibuprofen and to go to an otolaryngologist in a couple of days.

“A couple of days later I went and saw ENT, they did a full scan and again nothing, totally normal scan,” Dr. Beachgem said in the video.

The family was giving the boy ibuprofen and numbing ear drops before revisiting the ER because his pain was not subsiding.

After more than a week of tests and scans that came back normal, the boy was taken to the ER at 4:30 in the morning, where he saw Dr. Beachgem.

“Now he has some fevers and he doesn’t want to eat or drink and we have no idea what’s happening to him,” he said.

‘Her ear examination was completely normal and she still complained of ear pain. On examination of her throat, she had some swelling in the tonsil type or area on the right side and also some tenderness in her neck on the right side.

The doctor said they did “a bunch of labs” and every test they could think of before a CT scan revealed the problem.

“I had a metal wire about 2 cm that was lodged in the paratonsillar tissues on the right and had started to develop an abscess around it,” he said.

Why can grill brushes be dangerous?

The wire bristles of barbecue brushes can cause serious digestive or throat injuries when swallowed.

Thousands of injuries from accidentally consuming bristles have been reported around the world, including in Australia.

The metal bristles of barbecue brushes can become loose. Watch out for bristles falling out while cleaning grates with a wire brush. Check the hob and grills regularly for loose wires. These loose bristles can stick to the grill and then become embedded inside the food.

Australians are big fans of barbecues so the following tips are highly recommended to help prevent injury to your friends and family.

If you use a wire brush:

buy a quality product – check the strength of the bristles and see if you can pull one out with your fingers
inspect it regularly – if you see loose bristles or can pull them out, replace them
replace the brush as soon as you see that it looks bent, damaged or filled with too much grease and dirt
check grill for bristles before use
examine your food before eating it.

Fountain: W.A. Trade

“He was eating a hamburger when this happened, so the grill brush, the wires from the grill brush, had become lodged in the hamburger and when he ate the hamburger it became lodged in the soft tissues.”

Dr. Beachgem explained that he would have felt pain in his ear because the wire and abscess were near the Eustachian tube, which connects the ear to the nasal cavity and the back of the throat.

The boy was taken to surgery where the wire was removed and his abscess was drained.

His pain ‘completely resolved’, he was prescribed antibiotics and made a full recovery.

After more than a week of tests and scans, a CT scan revealed the wire in the boy’s throat. He had accidentally eaten it when he got stuck in his burger that was being cooked on the grill.

“Do not use grill brushes with metal wires, there is not only a risk of getting stuck in the soft tissues of the throat, but they can also cause intestinal obstructions and perforations in the abdomen if accidentally swallowed,” the doctor warned.

They are mixed with the hamburger or the meat that is cooked on the grill.

Dr. Beachgem’s video quickly went viral with 17.3 million views and many in the comments were appreciative of the advice.

‘Ummm, who else gets up and is going to throw the grill brush? Thank you for this story,” said one viewer.

‘Wow! That’s crazy! Throwing my grill brush away,” wrote another.

Others had heard of the risk before and one said he had his own unpleasant experience with a bristle grill brush.

“He stuck a piece of metal wire from a grill brush into my tonsil, it was very painful,” they said.

‘I saw this on Mystery Diagnosis a long time ago and we have never used a grill brush since. Or a scrub, or you can buy a grilled pumice stone,” he suggested a second.

Two ways to clean your grill without a metal barbecue brush

1. Aluminum foil

Crumple the aluminum foil into a ball that is large enough to easily hold with a pair of tongs. Hold the ball in your tweezers and scrape off the dirt.

Aluminum foil can leave tiny residue behind, so once you’re done, allow the grill to cool and use a damp cloth to wipe away any residue.

It’s best to clean your grill after you’ve finished cooking, before any food residue has time to cool and stick.

If you didn’t clean your grates after your last cookout and leftover food remains, there’s an easy way to clean them before you start cooking.

Turn on your grill and place a sheet of aluminum foil directly on the grates.
Close the grill lid.
Let the grill run for a few minutes until the grates get hot and the debris starts to loosen.
Remove the aluminum foil, then rub the racks with a crumpled ball of aluminum foil.

2. Half an onion

When done cooking, cut an onion in half and place on a grill fork, cut side down. Clean the onion on the grill grates to loosen any stuck-on food debris.

This method also works before you start grilling: turn on the grill and give it time to heat up. Once the grates are hot, wipe them clean with half of the onion.

When you are done cleaning the grill, simply discard half of the onion. Best of all, if you’re using a charcoal grill, you can toss the onion directly onto the coals to help flavor the food you’re about to cook.

Fountain: cnet