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Health & Fitness

Salt and Ice: The Household's Deadliest Products for Teens?

The salt and ice "game" is a deadly craze, sweeping the nation. Children as young as 10 years old are trying participating with horrifying results.

There is sweeping the nation amongst children as young as 10 years old. The salt and ice 'challenge' has become the newest sensation on Youtube and social media sites alike.

This being said, the seemingly harmless and easily attainable items are being combined to form horrific results. Many health care professionals are reaching out to parents to create awareness of this new game.

For the challenge, one has to put salt on their skin and then press ice into it to see who can tolerate the pain the longest. The longer the ice is pressed into the salt, the more serious the injury. A chemical reaction occurs when salt comes in contact with ice, the freezing point of the ice is lowered as the salt dissolves. As the salt and ice dissolve, because they are pressed against skin, they burn and reveal something similar in pain and in appearance to that of frostbite.

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In some cases, children have been scared due to this. The 'winner' in these scenarios is the one who leaves the salt and ice on their skin for the longest time; the one who proves he or she is tougher than their opponent. It has been reported that some have done this for up to seven minutes or more. Due to the reaction being instant, leaving the salt and ice pressed to the skin for this long can cause irreperable damage to the skin and even the nerves.

Salt and ice can be obtained right in your very own home. It is extremely important that you make your children aware of the serious dangers that such simple household items can brinng if mixed in the wrong fashion. Children today are always under constant pressure to outdo one another or to try the new craze to fit in. In cases like this, we need to preach to our young ones that it's OK to say no and be the one not doing what everyone else is doing.

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Below is a video of the salt and ice game and its effects on those who play it.

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