From eating cereal out of someone’s mouth to the famous silhouette challenge, we have seen how quickly TikTok trends can go viral.

But even though some challenges can be fun and fairly safe to take part in there are others that are extremely cringey and even dangerous.

One of the earlier challenges on the video-sharing app was called the ’skull breaker’. This would involve two people kicking the legs from under a third person, making them fall over on their back.

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What started as a ’funny’ prank led to some serious injuries and in some cases, the police had to get involved.

According to the BBC, two youngsters were charged with aggravated assault after taking part in the dangerous challenge. Parents were told not to let their children take part in it and eventually TikTok said they would remove the content completely from the platform.

Here are some other challenges that should have never become a thing.

Testicles taste buds challenge

We are starting this off on a really weird note… In this challenge men would be seen dipping their testicles into Soy Sauce, checking if their testicles have a sense of taste.

@alxjamesoh.. my god….. 🤭😳♬ original sound – Alx James

According to reports, the bizarre science experiment started after a TikTok user came across an article about a 2013 study that determined mice have a form of taste receptors in their testes. And just like that men wanted to see if their testicles had the same.

At-home IUD removal

This dangerous trend is fairly recent and it is basically women trying to remove their contraceptive intrauterine device (IUD), also known as a “coil”, by themselves at home.

The trend started when a TikTok user shared that she had removed her IUD ‘easily’ in just two minutes which led to other people saying that they had done the same, and that is how it all started. The hashtag #iudremoval has over 60 million views even though the trend has been condemned by doctors globally.

@mikkiegallagher this is NOT medical advice but it only took 2 minutes 😳 #fyp #momsoftiktok #periods #iudremoval #iud #mirena #momtok #diy #birthcontrol #gonefishing ♬ God Made Girls – RaeLynn

Dr Gloria Bachmann, an OB-GYN and director of the Women’s Health Institute at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, told Today that it is better to get the removal in a controlled environment.  “When we take it out in the office, everything is visualised [but] you are doing it more or less blindly [at home]” she said.

“If it’s embedded in the muscle layer of the uterus, which can happen, it can cause a lot more bleeding, a lot more pain, and it can actually bring the uterus down with it, which is not something that one would want,” added Bachmann.

So maybe people should not be removing their own IUDs at home?

Milkcrate challenge

The milk crate trend was luckily short-lived as TikTok quickly banned videos featuring the tag amidst concerns that people would get injured when taking part in the challenge.

The trend consisted of people walking up and down an unsecured pyramid made out of milk crates, often resulting in an awkward and calamitous fall. Videos of people taking part in this challenge were all over social media until medical experts expressed their concerns.

‘With COVID-19 hospitalizations rising around the country, please check with your local hospital to see if they have a bed available for you, before attempting the #milkcratechallenge,’ the Baltimore City Health Department had tweeted at the time.

The cereal challenge

In this challenge, people would basically use someone’s mouth as a cereal bowl by laying them down and pouring cereal and milk into their mouth.

@omaraamoum_Tagga la prima persona che esce digitando la @.. farà colazione con te 🥛🥞 ##fyp ##perte ##cerealchallenge ##mouthbowl @enrylazza♬ original sound – Brent Rivera

This challenge could easily lead to choking especially once the person started laughing with a mouth full of cereal while laying down. Also, it’s a bit disgusting.

Teeth whitening challenge

There have been a number of teeth whitening methods that came from TikTok but one that caught the attention of most dentists was the one that featured hydrogen peroxide.

A user was seen adding 3% hydrogen peroxide directly onto their teeth, defending her actions by saying that most whitening strips included peroxide as the main ingredient anyway.

@clauds244I’m hungover so excuse the lack of enthusiasm #foryoupage #foryou #fyp #dentist #teeth #teethwhitening #advice♬ original sound – Claud✨

Dentists were quick to warn users against this ’hack’ by explaining the negative effects of bleaching your teeth. “Prolonged bleaching with these high concentrations of hydrogen peroxide, especially when used multiple days in a row, can lead to highly irritated gums and sensitive teeth,” dentist and Waterpik spokesperson Chris Strandburg, told Health.

Kissing a friend challenge

This challenge gave us a serious case of third-party embarrassment. A user would randomly attempt to make a move on their best friend by kissing them. The whole thing would be awkward unless the best friend kissed the user back.

@shaniahrosePart 2… 🥺👉🏽👈🏽 ##kissingmybestfriend ##trending ##fyp ##viral ##foryou ##foryoupage ##australian ##oh♬ Surrender – Natalie Taylor

Toothpaste spit challenge

Just when you think things cannot get any more bizarre someone comes up with this challenge. In this one users (usually women) are seen brushing their teeth and spitting it out, which seems like a strange thing to document.

According to HITC the challenge is actually x-rated, as the white toothpaste liquid is actually supposed to resemble semen.

The song that goes with the challenge is Sex Talk by Megan Thee Stallion, and girls are seemingly doing the challenge to imitate explicit videos, which is definitely concerning since TikTok is full of impressionable young users.

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Garlic hack

One of the latest home remedies for curing a blocked nose on TikTok involves stuffing garlic cloves up your nostrils and keeping it in there for 10-15 minutes.

One of the first people to give this bizarre trend a try seems to be the TikTok creator Rozaline Katherine, who posted a now-viral video of herself with garlic in her nose.

In the clip, the fitness trainer can be seen stuffing two cloves of garlic into each of her nostrils.

“Saw on TikTok, if you put garlic in your nose it unclogs your sinuses,” the text in the clip read.

She kept the cloves in place for around 10-15 minutes before removing the cloves only for her nose to start running.

Experts do not believe that stuffing garlic in the nostrils will relieve a stuffy nose, but they can understand why people would think it does because once they remove the cloves their noses usually start running which makes it seem like it worked.

@rozalinekatherinei’m shook lol ##tiktoktaughtme ##thankyoutiktok ##tiktokhacks♬ Coffee Music – Cafe Music BGM channel

As much as TikTok brings some much-needed entertainment to users of all ages, some of the challenges may not be appropriate for younger users.

The platform does however offer a restricted mode that tries to limit age-inappropriate content from appearing for children. Parents can set it up in Settings > Digital Wellbeing > Screen Time Management.

Adults on the other hand, will just have to cringe their way through the For You page.

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