Aug 27, 2021 – A milk crate climbing challenge that suddenly spiked on social media over the past week has resulted in many of its participants falling hard.
The TikTok trend of stacking boxes of milk in a pyramid-shaped staircase and trying to climb up and down one side has resulted in countless people falling to the ground, injuring themselves when they land on their necks , Sides and backs.
Every Crate Challenge video is a potential orthopedic injury, says George Gantsoudes, MD, a pediatric orthopedist with Pediatrics Specialists of Virginia. These falls can potentially lead to fractures of the pelvis, collarbone, and legs, as well as ligament injuries in the ankle and knee. Paralysis as well as joint and shoulder dislocations are possible.
“I understand that people need to find ways to entertain themselves, but we would definitely appreciate it if people found ways that don’t put their lives at risk,” says Gantsoudes, who is not yet a pediatric patient who was injured by the crate challenge. “Falling from a great height is never good. Gravity always wins. “
These nasty falls, which have garnered millions of views on social media platforms, have led the FDA and doctors to warn of the viral fad.
A woman in Dallas was injured after falling from a pile of milk crates on concrete in front of a gas station. She is believed to have hit her head in the fall and footage posted on the internet shows paramedics coming to her aid.
With many children’s hospitals crowded with young COVID-19 patients, some of these crate challenge injuries may not be instantly resolved. Gantsoudes says that if a child develops an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear as a result of the milk crate challenge and is admitted to a hospital overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, Gantsoudes says it may not be considered an urgent surgery.
“The first COVID-19 shutdown that we had last spring, [children with ACL tears] I had to wait 2 to 3 months to get it fixed, ”he said.
The viral fad joins a long list of social media challenges that have gone viral with potentially dangerous consequences. The so-called Tide Pod Challenge – where people actually ate detergent pods – led to a spike in poison controls in 2018, while kids who tried the Cinnamon Challenge – where, as you guessed, people ate large amounts of the seasoning – – expose themselves to a serious lung injury in 2012.
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