I got a 'free' popsicle and suffered horrific lip burns

Publish date: 2024-05-08

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It was a tale of fire and ice.

A Mexican TikTokker recounted the painful tale of how she tried to eat a popsicle to cool off — and ended up getting severely burned. A clip detailing her unorthodox freezer burn currently boasts over 13.3 million views on TikTok.

“I woke up the next morning completely swollen,” the poor woman, named Maria Cadena, 27, from Puebla, told Jam Press of the freak frozen treat accident, which occurred in May at an outdoor festival in Mexico City.

Due to the sweltering temperatures, the digital marketer had bought a popsicle to cool off, but ended up getting her mouth stuck on it à la “A Christmas Story,” the outlet reported.

“I researched and found that ice sticks to the skin due to the temperature shock between the skin and the popsicle,” explained Cadena. Although the festival-goer found her adhesive mishap peculiar as she was “the only one who ordered a taro-flavored lollipop and all my friends ate theirs without getting stuck.”

Cadena likely suffered from an ice burn, which occurs after coming into contact with something that’s been cold for a very long time. Jam Press/@marinacaze
“Well today we were able to learn how dangerous it is to eat an ice popsicle,” quipped one TikTok commenter. Jam Press/@marinacaze

Things snowballed after Cadena finished the ice pop out of thirst, whereupon she felt her lips “getting inflamed inside.”

In the accompanying clip, the TikTokker can be seen pointing to her bottom lip, which is blanketed in blisters. Cadena also pantomimes biting the popsicle and even shares a photo of the frozen treat stuck to her bottom lip.

At one point, she even points to a still shot of the male vendor who allegedly gave her the faulty frozen treat.

Cardena’s father, who’s a doctor, was able to alleviate her freezerburn. Jam Press/@marinacaze
“I researched and found that ice sticks to the skin due to the temperature shock between the skin and the popsicle,” explained Cadena. Jam Press/@marinacaze

Oblivious to her situation, Cadena’s friends laughed and made jokes, before an understanding female Samaritan stepped into to try and remedy her peculiar “frostbite” with a tequila shot, per the clip.

Unfortunately, this makeshift frozen margarita only served to burn her skin even more. The clip concludes with a morning-after pic of Cadena’s lips, which have swelled up to twice their previous size and sprouted tons of blisters.

Needless to say, TikTok sympathized with the poor gal’s unfortunate ice-capade.

“Ouch,” said one fan, while another wrote, “the same thing happened to my sister.”

The popsicle adhered to Cadena’s lower lip. Jam Press/@marinacaze

“It happened to me but it got stuck on my tongue, they put them in dry ice that’s why it has that effect, it’s horrible,” explained one commiserator.

One armchair physician advised: “Bepanthen cream is great to restore the skin and pain, hope you recover very soon.”

“Well today we were able to learn how dangerous it is to eat an ice popsicle,” quipped another commenter.

Oblivious to her situation, Cadena’s friends laughed and made jokes, before an understanding female Samaritan stepped into to try and remedy her peculiar “frostbite” with a tequila shot. Jam Press/@marinacaze

It’s likely that Cadena suffered from an ice burn, which occurs when one’s “skin comes into direct contact with ice or something else that’s very cold for an extended period of time,” Healthline reported.

“An ice burn often looks like other types of burns, like sunburns,” they wrote. “You might notice a change in the color of the affected skin. For example, it might appear bright red. It might also turn a white or yellowish gray color.”

Cadena’s lips swelled to twice their normal size and sprouted blisters. Jam Press/@marinacaze
Cadena has since issued a PSA to ice cream lovers warning them of potentially lip-blistering popsicles. Jam Press/@marinacaze

Thankfully, Cardena’s father, who’s a doctor, was able to alleviate her freezer burn.

“He prescribed me a special cream for the burn and told me to keep the area clean, moisturized and to eat carefully,” the grateful gal described.

She hopes to use her plight as a cautionary tale to help others avoid suffering the same icy fate.

“Since this has happened to me, I have seen so many similar cases,” Cadena advised. “Be careful when buying popsicles and make sure they aren’t too frozen.”

She added, “If they stick to the palette [or mouth] use water to detach, not alcohol.”

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