Find A Trend Feature

 I chose to submit a trend feature on the "Milk Crate Challenge," a viral trend where a group of people stack up milk crates into a stair-like formation and then try to walk up and down them. It sounds simple, but it has created some hilarious viral moments, and one of it's signature elements is the very real and present danger and risk of injury, which only contributes further to the viral insanity. 

"Step by step, the participant walks precariously up a pyramid of milk crates, inching closer to greatness or, more likely, a wipeout viewed by millions — and maybe a trip to the emergency room.

When the person falls — and they usually do — throngs of people who’ve helped make the social media spectacle known as the Milk Crate Challenge the latest viral phenomenon proceed to sing a chorus of “Oh!” and “Ah!” as the pyramid collapses and the climber lands painfully on a milk crate or the ground. This was the case for one Atlanta-area man over the weekend who flashed two thumbs up as he was halfway through his conquest. One second later, he lost control and he flew forward, crashing headfirst into the grass. He did get up, still flashing the double thumbs up to the crowd of camera-phone wielders who couldn’t resist filming the latest failure.

The Milk Crate Challenge has gone viral in recent days, with the often catastrophic results shared by millions across social media and at least one tweeter proclaiming it to be “the funniest challenge since the ice bucket challenge.”

“It’s the biggest thing that’s going on in every neighborhood right now,” said Derek, a 38-year-old social media personality based on Long Island and better known as Itsbizkit who preferred not to give his last name, for privacy reasons. “You go to any park or public place right now and you’ll see crates there.”

But many see the Milk Crate Challenge as taking up where the Tide Pod Challenge left off — as a viral meme that has become a public health hazard. Some doctors are also warning that the injuries from the challenge are putting more stress on hospitals at a time when emergency rooms nationwide are overwhelmed because of the surge in coronavirus infections.

“Everyone needs to do their part in supporting first responders and health-care providers, and that involves not partaking in challenges like this one that are putting additional strain on the system,” said Shawn Anthony, an orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.

While the exact number of injuries and hospital visits related to the Milk Crate Challenge is unclear, Anthony said that colleagues from across the country are reporting on online forums that they have seen challenge participants with a variety of injuries, including shoulder dislocations and rotator-cuff tears, ACL and meniscus tears, broken wrists and even spinal-cord injuries. When Anthony first saw what he described as the “dangerous Internet challenge,” he was reminded of the injuries he routinely sees when people fall off ladders or are hurt in high-speed skiing accidents — with the difference being that the Milk Crate Challenge involved what he called “elective injuries.”

“It’s perhaps even worse than falling from a ladder,” he said. “It’s very difficult to brace yourself from the falls I’ve seen in these videos. They’re putting their joints at an even higher risk for injury.”

Henry Schuitema, chief of emergency medicine at Jefferson Health in New Jersey, said his hospital recently saw one patient who suffered several fractured ribs after participating in the challenge. Schuitema said TikTok and other social media platforms were to blame for spreading and promoting the Milk Crate Challenge."