What is milk crate viral challenge on social media that doctors are warning against - Watch here

Viral challenges are not new in this era of the social media boom. From TikTok to other social media platforms, people throw challenges at each other to perform a particular task, the video of which then goes viral and it attracts a lot of users who like, comment, and share them on their accounts. Some years ago, the Ice Bucket Challenge was the hottest trend on social media in 2014. 

As per the challenge, the person thanked whoever nominated them for the challenge, they mentioned and/or spoke about donating to ALS research, they nominated others to partake in the challenge, then they poured a bucket of ice water over their head, and finally, they uploaded their video to social media. Ideally, the challenge had to be answered within 24 hours. 

In the latest viral challenge, making the rounds on TikTok and other social media platforms, videos of people in the United States and some other countries showed people trying to balance themselves on a pyramid of milk crates, mostly failing in their attempt.

In most videos, the person taking up the challenge ended up in what looks like a painful fall onto the collapsing crates, or the ground, as onlookers film the entire challenge on their phones. Some even dubbed the event as the 'Hood Olympics'. However, the health experts on Wednesday warned people against this latest viral challenge saying they should not attempt doing it.

Heals and hospital bills wait #milkcratechallenge pic.twitter.com/iGbcibE258

— Milk crate challenge (@milkcratechalle) August 23, 2021

"You're at risk for hitting your head and getting head bleed," said Dr Chad Cannon, an emergency room doctor at the University of Kansas Health System. "If you land on the milk crate, you will break your back and be paralyzed," he added. Baltimore City Health pointed out that hospitals are already under strain due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

While the hashtag is still available on Twitter and Instagram, it seems to have been removed from TikTok which yielded no results on searching the hashtag. "This phrase may be associated with behavior or content that violates our guidelines. Promoting a safe and positive experience is TikTok's top priority," the search result page said.