ABC News reported the condom challenge first appeared in 2007 when a video of someone snorting an unwrapped condom up their nostril and trying to pull it back out of their mouth appeared on YouTube. It became popular again in 2013 when a YouTube influencer posted a video of the "challenge," and has now resurfaced as more people try it out. The videos don't make the "challenge" seem particularly pleasant to experience, but doctors say it's actually downright dangerous.
Dr. Wendie Williams, an emergency physician at The Colony ER Hospital in Texas, said the condom challenge — or any instance where people inhale objects up their nose — can tear sensitive membranes that can become infected. The condom could also slip into someone’s esophagus in the middle of the challenge, causing a choking hazard.
“Choking is a very, very serious risk with inhaling anything other than air or nasal solutions used for medical purposes,” Williams tells Teen Vogue. “Stop and think about the risks. Ask yourself, is this worth seriously hurting myself or potentially dying over?”
The “natural route” for an object that is inhaled, like a condom, is to enter the lungs, says Dr. Darria Long Gillespie, an emergency department physician at Northside Hospital in Atlanta. If a condom goes toward someone’s lungs, it could seal over their airway and likely suffocate them.
“Any person who does this is playing with chance,” Gillespie tells Teen Vogue. “If just a piece of the condom breaks off, one could easily inhale it into their lungs — called aspirating — which could lead either to an infection like pneumonia or [a] severe inflammatory response.”
Gillespie says doctors in the emergency room regularly deal with supposedly “harmless pranks” turning extremely dangerous.
“If you want YouTube fame, get it by doing something amazing, for which you’re uniquely talented,” Gillespie says. “Don’t try to get it by potentially harming yourself or threatening your life, putting all that talent to waste.”
