Death by ICY Hot

[snopes]

Comment: I had heard that a marathon runner rubbed ICY HOT all over his
entire body after a race. It was said that he died due to an overdose of
ICY Hot. Is there any truth to this?

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

Really happened, except it was a High School track star, not specifically a marathoner. I don't know that the brand was Icy Hot, either.

Seaboe

[RivkahChaya]

My brother brushed his teeth with bengay (can't get capital "b") when he was four, and had to go to the emergency room. I still think it's funny, though.

[LyndaD]

Ha, When DS1 was about 14, he rubbed Icy Hot on his thighs after a particularly brutal football practice. I guess he rubbed it up a little higher than he intended, because he had a couple uncomfortable hours during which he could not sit normally

[Wet Blanket]

Originally Posted by LyndaD

Ha, When DS1 was about 14, he rubbed Icy Hot on his thighs after a particularly brutal football practice. I guess he rubbed it up a little higher than he intended, because he had a couple uncomfortable hours during which he could not sit normally

A girlfriend of my daughter's once called our house in a panic after accidentally getting some Icy Hot on her lady parts. I know it's a little mean, but her lament has become a bit of a family catchphrase.

"It's so icy! And also hot!"

[Noctilca]

Originally Posted by RivkahChaya

My brother brushed his teeth with bengay (can't get capital "b") when he was four, and had to go to the emergency room. I still think it's funny, though.

I accidentally started brushing my teeth with Thera-Gesic once, and I'll just say that I was much older than four :o For some reason, I didn't go to the hospital, but I'm okay...I think.. (although I maybe I should have had my head examined)

[Not_Done_Living]

Isn't the active ingredient in Icy Hot Menthol?

Can someone explain the death mechanics of this rather innocuous substance?

[erwins]

Originally Posted by Not_Done_Living

Isn't the active ingredient in Icy Hot Menthol?

Can someone explain the death mechanics of this rather innocuous substance?

From the article Seboe linked:

The 17-year-old died from an accidental overdose of methyl salicylate, the wintergreen-scented ingredient found in liniments like BenGay, Icy Hot and Tiger Balm, the New York City medical examiner’s office said last week.

And:

Topical application of methyl salicylate can be hazardous if it is smeared over 40 percent of the body, if someone has a skin condition or if another medication interacts negatively with the products, Kearney said.

This was the scariest part to me though:

“It’s on my one-swallow-to-kill list for kids,” said Dr. Thomas Kearney, who directs a poison control center and is a professor of pharmacy at the University of California at San Francisco.

Salicylate sounds like it would be related to aspirin -- acetylsalicylic acid. I'm not a chemist, though, so I don't know the significance of that.

erwins

[franjava]

Originally Posted by Noctilca

I accidentally started brushing my teeth with Thera-Gesic once, and I'll just say that I was much older than four :o For some reason, I didn't go to the hospital, but I'm okay...I think.. (although I maybe I should have had my head examined)

I accidentally shaved one of my legs with a noxema-like face cleanser. After getting it on my bikini area, it burned my feminine places.

Since when did Icy Hot not come as a patch? A couple years ago I had a back problem, and I had an Icy Hot patch on my lower back. I felt my back get real hot all of a sudden and when I pulled the patch off I had first degree burns from it... We haven't used IcyHot since.

[firefighter_raven]

http://www.emedicine.com/MED/topic2057.htm
The link above gives you the technical details of what happens in a salicylate overdose. To summarize your body functions in a vary narrow balance of pH (acidosis/alkalosis). Been awhile since paramedic school but if you get out of this range and your body is unable to balance you out it starts to cause all kinds of systems to go wrong. Many of the different systems of the body work under a very tight balance between 2 states so adding to much of one substance can start to throw that balance off which then starts to cause a domino effect throughout the body.
Basically to much of just about anything can throw the body out of whack... salt, sports drinks, tylenol, aspirin, oxygen, water....