Did Your Kid Bite a Glow Stick? When to Worry

As a parent, your brain goes into panic mode when you see your child on the floor screaming in pain, and his mouth and fingertips are brightly glowing green in total darkness. 

Glow sticks are especially appealing to children because:

• They don’t use batteries.
• Glow sticks are cheap.
• They are waterproof. 

A glow stick is a scientific wonder, and children love those, but they won’t enjoy the experience of coming in contact with the actual contents that cause the glowing. 

Your Child Needs First Aid

At this point, your child should be complaining that their skin is on fire because one of the chemicals in a glow stick is phenol, which causes chemical burns. Take some water and rinse off the parts of the body that came into contact with the compounds. This can easily be performed in the dark since the chemicals are visible. 

Your goal should be to avoid further ingestion because that will lead to:

• Vomiting. 
• Swelling.
• Drooling.
• Feeling nausea.
• Gagging. 
• Painful skin irritation. 

Use as much water as possible to wash away the glow stick contents from your kid’s skin. Perform this in a space where the spill can easily be cleaned without causing harm to anyone else. 

Read the Labeling

It would help if you did this to understand how serious the situation is if your kid swallowed some of the glowing stick chemicals. Certain brands of glow sticks may contain chemicals that will liquefy plastic on the first contact. Other brands include hydrogen peroxide. The science behind how the chemicals combine to produce a glow is fascinating, but they become hazardous on human skin. 

Treating Your Child’s Glowstick Burn

If your child swallowed the glow stick contents, then rush them to a pediatrician after calling the poisons center. Whether there are visible burns on the skin or not, use plenty of running water to wash the affected area. 

For a visible burn wound, apply petroleum jelly or any other moisturizer after washing it with running water. You can also cover the burn with a bandage that does not stick. This form of treatment applies to smaller, manageable external wounds. Take your child to a hospital for ingestion cases because they are better equipped to treat internal burning sensations. 

Your child may still be crying of pain but only provide them with pain medication approved by a professional pediatrician. There are various efficient remedies for burns to be considered as long as your kid is not allergic to any natural treatment alternatives. 

During this whole incident, make sure that your child does not touch their eyes because the pain will seem unbearable for a moment. 911 should be involved when the symptoms become severe, and your kid has difficulty breaking, and they feel choked. 

How to Prevent Childhood Glowstick Accidents

Have a sit down with your child and explain how dangerous glow sticks can be when chewed on. Teach them how to play with the glowing sticks safely. Show them one of those illustrational videos that explain such things to children in a fun and memorable format. 

You could also supervise your young one as they go about playing with the glow sticks. This can be effectively achieved if you join them in their games. That way, you’re in the middle of the action and can prevent any ingestion and mishandling. 

Dispose the used glow sticks correctly and don’t give glow sticks to children that need supervision to play with them. 

Make sure to read the instructions that come with the packaging before allowing your kid to touch the glow stick. The fine print will include measures to be taken in case of an accident.

Are Glowsticks Toxic for Children?

By all accounts, glow sticks are not as toxic as most people believe. Generally speaking, items that are meant to be used for a child’s play should not be harmful in any way. The only problem with glowing sticks is that the contents irritate when they land on your skin. However, when ingested in large quantities, that can lead to severe medical complications. 

The stinging may last for several minutes and maybe hours, but running water has been proven to be the best remedy for glowstick accidents. The mixture in the sticks taste awful, and a child is likely to spit it right out instead of swallowing. It is recommended to have a speed dial to a poisons center in case of a glow stick emergency because they will provide the best action cause.