We brought you the news on the latest games your kids might be playing that could result in a trip to the hospital, which you can
check out here. Well, it seems like the future of our country is at it again with a game called “Salt & Ice” or “The Pain Game.”
No matter what you call it, it’s a needless risk and an idiotic new territory for the boys and girls of America.
Here’s the challenge: wet an area of your skin and cover it with table salt. Then, have you or your friend apply pressure with an ice cube until the pain becomes unbearable, and you ask them to stop. It’s like “uncle” on crack, and it’s leading to hospital visits around the U.S.
Why is it so painful? Salt & Ice involves a chemical process that can cause a severe reaction. It’s pretty well known that water freezes at 32 degrees, but when you add salt, the freezing point can drop to as low as 0 degrees Fahrenheit. When you apply ice, it actually pulls energy from what’s within reach; which in this case, is the heat from the child’s skin. As the players of the game fight the urge to remove the ice from their skin, they can risk serious damage, including
second-degree burns, blisters, and severe frostbite.
In the most absurd cases, young boys have had life altering skin lesions and scars that they’ll carry forever.
But perhaps the biggest issue is that of social media, and that in today’s society, it’s easy for a game like this to spread through different communities. Salt & Ice may have never been an issue 20 years ago, when you’d have to actively make a stupid decision on your own accord. Now, as soon as you upload your stupidity du jour to Youtube, you can create your very own epidemic.
So, unfortunately, you’re probably going to have to have a talk with your children about Salt & Ice. You should let them know that any “game” that involves lifelong scars, hospital visits, and prescription medication isn’t something that should be played by anyone, let alone children. And you should also let them know that just because something has been viewed a thousand times on a video website, it doesn’t make it cool or trendy, just overexposed.
And if they really want exposure in today’s society, then they can find a way to do it creatively and responsibly . . . Rather than burning themselves with ice cubes and table salt.
#InsidersHealth
