Adam Taylor, Lancaster University

Social media challenges can range from bizarre, hilarious to downright dangerous – it seems there’s no limit to what some people will do for likes.

Take the “gallon challenge”, for instance. Social media influencers encouraged their followers to consume a gallon (3.78L in the UK) of milk in 60 minutes without vomiting.

Maybe this doesn’t sound too horrifying – until you conisder that the capacity of the average human stomach is about 1.5L. Research has shown that 250ml of milk takes just over an hour to leave the stomach.

So, the gallon challenge is likely to result in one of two outcomes. Either, the challenger will be plagued by nausea, pain, bloating and diarrhoea as the body tries to help the stomach deal with being too full. Or, the person will vomit as the body attempts to rid the stomach of its contents and reduce its risk of damage. Overfilling the stomach can lead to gastrorrhexis, when the stomach wall is stretched so much that it tears – and it’s [usually fatal].

Other ingestion challenges include the “cinnamon challenge” where social media users attempted to swallow a tablespoon of ground cinnamon in 60 seconds. This is a very bad idea.

For a start, cinnamon is a rich source of coumarin, a compound that can be toxic to the liver so eating ground cinnamon in such a large quantity isn’t advisable.

Also, consuming cinnamon or any other powder form of herbs or spices could damage the lining of the oesophagus or trachea – and even the lungs.

The body keeps the surfaces of these areas moist to protect them. When powder is ingested, then, it sticks to these surfaces instantly, drying them out and causing breaks in the protective lining, which can lead to serious infections.

In 2018, you might remember, the “TidePod challenge” went viral. For this, some social media users ate laundry detergent pods for likes. Laundry pod ingestion is already a significant issue in the US and UK. As of late 2022, studies show that at least one child every hour is injured from exposure to laundry pods. Why people would choose to take such a huge risk to their health for the entertainment of others is anyone’s guess.

Symptoms of laundry pod ingestion include vomiting, nausea, drowsiness and rashes. Because detergent is corrosive, swallowing laundry pods can cause burning of the oesophagus and stomach lining, and lead to changes in breathing and mental state. In some cases, people who’ve swallowed laundry pods need external support to breathe.

Eye injuries are a common side-effect of laundry pod ingestion, too. Many of the chemicals in laundry detergent are designed to remove bodily fluids from our clothes, so if any parts of our body – from eyes to throat and stomach – come into contact with the detergent, it will set about trying to destroy them.

Dragon breath is as awful as it sounds

If these challenges don’t sound bizarre enough for you, how about “dragon’s breath”? For this challenge, social media users consume candy coated in liquid nitrogen. Liquid nitrogen has a boiling point of approximately -196°C, which means in normal conditions it vaporises but touching it with any part of the body can result in full thickness burns.

Once consumed, the cold temperature of the liquid nitrogen burns the surfaces of the oesophagus and stomach. If the liquid nitrogen comes into contact with the warmer temperatures inside the body, more gas is produced which can result in rapid expansion, tearing oesophagus or stomach wide open.

And the danger isn’t just for those social media users attempting challenges for views. Some bars and restaurants serve liquid nitrogen cocktails and desserts. The vapour produced by the chemical can look spectacular but it should never be ingested. In 2012, Gaby Scanlon was served a “Nitro-Jagermeister” cocktail while celebrating her 18th birthday. The drink left her with a large perforation in her stomach. Her stomach had to be removed and her oesophagus connected directly to her small bowel. https://www.youtube.com/embed/wCuQa_8j4DM?wmode=transparent&start=0

For the “Benadryl challenge”, some social media users filmed themselves consuming excessive amounts of the antihistamine. Benadryl contains the active ingredient diphenhydramine, which acts as a sedative – and is also in a number of over-the-counter sleeping tablets.

Excessive consumption of the drug can cause heart problems, seizures and even comas. Treatment is difficult because many of the therapies can cause competing symptoms. Overdosing on diphenhydramine can be fatal.

What could go wrong?

Finally, for the “corn on the cob challenge” some social media users mounted corn on a power drill and tried to eat it as quickly as possible from the rotating tool. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, agonising tooth loss for a start. A rapidly rotating piece of food generating a high force against your teeth could pull them clean out of their bony socket, snapping the periodontal ligament that anchors them in place. Tooth avulsion – when a tooth is completely knocked out of its socket – is fairly common in children. Research has shown that placing the tooth in milk increases chances of reattaching to the socket.

So the moral of the story is, if you value the linings of your oesophagus, trachea, lungs and stomach, then you’d be well advised to avoid all bizarre or risky sounding challenges on social media. Far too often, what’s meant to be fun and entertaining for viewers has ended in terrible tragedy.

Adam Taylor, Professor and Director of the Clinical Anatomy Learning Centre, Lancaster University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.
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