From men dipping their testicles in soy sauce to teens placing coins in iPhone chargers, a number of bizarre challenges have circulated on TikTok in recent months.
But the latest popular trend, called the Pass Out Challenge, is probably one of the most dangerous trends yet.
The bizarre challenge sees teens swaying their heads from side-to-side repeatedly, before passing out.
A quick search under #passoutchallenge reveals thousands of videos of teens attempting the challenge.
TikTok user @beccaruru posted a video of her attempting the challenge, writing: “Okay it works…& I fell off the bed it hurt.”
Meanwhile, a video posted by user @lucyjbutler shows three girls trying the challenge simultaneously, with two crashing to the floor as they pass out.
Worryingly, experts have warned of the risks associated with the challenge, including fainting, seizures, brain damage, and even death.
Speaking to the Irish Examiner when the challenge first circulated on Snapchat back in 2014, Dr Nick Flynn, a GP in Cork, said: “The kids are introducing themselves into an uncontrolled environment. It’s very risky.
“In performing the pass-out challenge they are mimicking suffocation. They are stopping the chest muscle from moving, which stops the chest from working and you can’t get oxygen to the brain. The brain is then starved of oxygen and the person loses consciousness.
“What is actually going on in the brain is a lack of oxygen similar to when someone is drowning, choking or having a cardiac arrest. It causes brain hypoxia or low levels of oxygen in the brain and that can cause seizures and death. If you have low oxygen to the brain for over three minutes you can get brain damage and if you have low oxygen to the brain for over five minutes it can result in death.
“Kids are experimenting with alcohol and entry level drugs and if you mix these and this activity this is fraught with danger. The children there are more disinhibited and less likely to behave appropriately if there is an emergency. Genuinely it is very scary.”
The Pass Out challenge trend comes shortly after teens were warned about a new 'Skullbreaker' craze that can cause 'serious injuries'.
The game, which is said to have gone viral after being shared on TikTok, involves two youngsters knocking a third off balance while they jump in the air.
Footage taken at a school in Venezuela showed one boy crashing to the ground after the two either side of him kick his feet away from as they leap off the ground.
Initial reports, which were not confirmed by the school involved, pointed to him ending up in intensive care.
