Tyler (KYTX) - A bizarre new trend called the "salt and ice challenge" is landing teens in the hospital. It's worrying East Texas parents, as the fad quickly gains popularity on the Internet.
The "salt and ice challenge" going viral on YouTube may sound harmless, but the dangerous new trend is landing kids in emergency rooms all over the world.
These kids are putting salt on their skin, and then pressing ice on top. The challenge is to see who can deal with the burning pain, and keep the ice on the longest.
Dr. Jonathan MacClements with the UT Health Science Center says, "When you put salt and ice on your skin it lowers the freezing point of the ice and that causes a chemical reaction like dry ice and it causes the skin to burn."
Just holding ice and salt to your skin for a few minutes can land you in a burn unit. Doctors want parents to know how serious this is, to prevent it from happening East Texas.
"It can be as bad as a 3rd degree burn which is the worst kind of burn, which leaves bad scars and can lead to bad infections and can lead to permanent damage," Dr. MacClements says.
The scariest thing about this trend for doctors and parents is that salt and ice can be found right in your house. That's why doctors say communicating with your kids is the most important thing to do so they don't mix these ingredients together.
Jodi Connolly is a mother of two, and worries that kids aren't thinking about the end result.
"They're showing the excitement factor of it but they're not showing the consequences, which is a third degree burn on your skin," Connolly says.
Concerned East Texas parents agree, the answer is communication.
Tyler mother of five, Brenda Stratton says, "I think as a parent we have a new obligation because of the unintended consequences of social media."
She hopes parents will talk to their kids, and prevent them from trying the dangerous stunt.
Kids are even playing pranks on their friends and doing this to them while they're sleeping. Parents are urged to talk to their kids about how dangerous this really is, before the trend gets even more out of control.
