WORDS PANK JIT SIN One of our readers forwarded us a video of three kids jumping, the ones on both sides then stopped and kicked the legs of the kid in the middle as he was mid-way jumping up, causing him to fall flat on his back and hit his head on the floor. It is truly painful to watch, and I can only imagine it must be more painful for the kid experiencing the fall. This is the newest Tik-Tok© challenge and might be the most dangerous to date. It is known as the Skullbreaker Challenge, for good reason. It can cause a multitude of injuries ranging from a simple bruise to concussion and possible death. The biggest concern is that the victim of a Skullbreaker Challenge will experience skull fracture or concussion. A fracture of the head is a medical emergency as the skull protects the soft brain form injury. A fracture of the skull is commonly accompanied by loss of consciousness, severe headache, nausea and vomiting, weakness, and cold sweat. Concussion is an injury to the head region which can lead to loss of awareness and alertness for a period of time ranging from minutes to hours.¹ Due to the speed at which the head hits the ground and all the force transferred to the neck, the victim could also suffer from whiplash, an injury to the neck caused by a forceful jolt or snap due to trauma. Whiplash frequently happens to those in motor accidents and extreme sports, and of course, it can happen to someone falling suddenly on their head and back. The sudden jerking motion causes injuries to the joints between the neck bones, discs, ligaments, muscles, and nerves around the neck.² These injuries tend to take a long time to heal and cause a great deal of pain and discomfort.¹ We spoke to a few general practitioners (GPs) and doctors in government hospitals in the Klang valley and it seems the trend has not picked up as they have not reported any patients coming in with “skullbreaker” injuries. Checks at a local international school and a government school also turned up no evidence of the challenge taking place in schools. Let’s hope this trend never takes hold in Malaysia. Please warn your child to never get involved in such a challenge. In any case, if your child comes home complaining about nausea, vomiting, or headache, it is a good idea to ask if they’ve been a victim of the challenge or if they’ve experienced a knock to their head, and to quickly bring them to see a doctor and monitor their progress.

References:
Johns Hopkins Medicine. Head Injury. Retrieved on 19 February from https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/head-injury. Cleveland Clinic. Whiplash. Retrieved on 19 February from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/11982-whiplash.