In yet another bizarre TikTok hack, TikTok users are sticking Garlic cloves in their noses to clean out their sinuses – and Doctors are warning against it.
The app has been blessing the internet with totally ridiculous ‘life-hacks’ since its creation including drinking hot lettuce water to help you sleep.
With allergies and sinus infections doing the rounds again, TikTok users have come up with a cheap at home remedies with a goal of relieving those symptoms – The Garlic Hack.
TikTok’s Garlic hack involves sticking two cloves of garlic into your nostrils for 15-30 minutes and once the cloves are removed, snot/mucus is meant to stream out of your nose and clear your sinuses. The trend has gone viral, with users gaining upwards of 4 million views for participating - and doctors are NOT happy about it.
Doctors have advised against the viral trend – due to the fact that the garlic cloves can cause quite a bit of irritation, and are likely to make your whole nasal situation even worse.
Otolaryngologist Dr. Neil Bhattacharyya said the following about the hack, when speaking to Shape magazine:
“If you do this enough, the body will start to react to the oils and chemicals in the garlic and cause contact dermatitis in the noise.”
Adding,
“Some garlic cloves are really strong and if you get enough leaching of the chemicals and oils into your nose, it will definitely irritate it.”
TikTok famous doctor Anthony Youn, MD also made his own video warning against the trend.
Moral of the story: Stop putting things in your body when they don’t belong there! Also, don’t listen to TikTok.