A new trend gaining popularity on TikTok is raising concerns among healthcare professionals.
Freeze branding involves tattooing human skin with icy-cold liquid nitrogen. The chilling technique, also known as cryo-branding, is traditionally used to mark and identify livestock.
Unlike traditional branding, which uses heat, this method relies on cryogenic coolant to destroy an animal's pigment cells and hair follicles.
Highlights
- Freeze branding tattoos use liquid nitrogen on human skin, risking severe burns and infections.
- A reported case showed freeze branding causing third-degree burns in a 33-year-old woman after 10 seconds exposure.
- Freeze branding joins a list of risky beauty trends like using Sharpies as lip liners and hemorrhoid creams near eyes.
It was developed in 1966 as a less painful way to mark cattle. But cattle skin is much thicker than human skin.
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"And that was only after having [the freeze branding iron] on there for a mere 10 seconds. Don't do this."
Originally developed to identify livestock, this technique is now being used on human skin
Image credits: drdrayzday
Image credits: drdrayzday
As Suarez explained, getting the trendy mark "is a bad idea," as it can "result in a full-thickness burn, that puts you at risk for a deep infection called cellulitis."
The National Library of Medicine explains that cellulitis is an acute bacterial infection causing inflammation of the deep dermis and surrounding subcutaneous tissue.
Untreated cellulitis can lead to sepsis, bone inflammation, or a heart lining infection.
"Friendly reminder, you are not a horse," the Houston-based dermatologist emphasized in her video, which has received nearly 115,000 likes on Instagram.
Human skin is much thinner than cattle skin, making these “tattoos” extremely dangerous
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Because human skin is between two and four times less in thickness than horse skin, this method can quickly cause second, third, and fourth degree burns.
The NLM reported on a case where a 33-year-old woman was left with a 0.25% total body surface area wound after getting the "tattoo" on her arm.
The branding iron was cooled for five minutes in a coolant mixture of dry ice and isopropyl alc*hol at an unknown temperature and the brand was then applied to her skin for 10 seconds.
Freeze branding is one of many beauty trends that dermatologists warn against due to their serious health risks
Image credits: lilcowgirl13
Freeze branding joins a growing list of internet aesthetic trends doctors are urging people to stay away from.
Dermatologists have already warned against using Sharpies as lip liners, explaining that the toxins found in the marker ink could get absorbed into the bloodstream.
As it turns out, swapping traditional lip pencils for ink is not an effective beauty hack, but can actually lead to glaucoma, a condition of increased pressure within the eyeball that can eventually cause blindness.
Moreover, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the ingredient xylene "can cause skin inflammation and defatting, particularly after prolonged or repeated contact with the liquid."
Image credits: lilcowgirl13
Another concerning trend involves using hemorrhoid cream under the eyes to reduce puffiness.
New York City-based dermatologist Dr. Shereene Idriss warned that some creams contain phenylephrine and steroids, which can "increase your risk of glaucoma."
Additionally, she said steroid creams "worsen the look of your wrinkles and the redness around your eyes" and give you a "shrivelly" appearance, as per The New York Post.
Idriss explained that the only type of "bottoms" product that can be safely used all over the skin, including under the eye, is "diaper rash cream/butt paste," such as Triple Paste, which contains cornstarch and oat kernel extract.
Young women film themselves in the morning after sleeping in sellotape to reduce their double chin by covering their faces in silicone face peels loaded with products.
This method, which has more than 3.2 million tags on TikTok, is known as "the morning shed" because individuals record themselves removing the different products upon waking up.
Experts have warned that, beyond causing an uncomfortable night's sleep, certain aspects of this beauty trend could pose a risk of suffocation.
Many people are in disbelief that individuals would seriously harm their skin for aesthetic purposes
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