<p>A track star in New York ( Staten Island) died from absorbing too much methyl salicylate (found in IcyHot and Bengay type creams). The medical examiner said that she used the topical medication to excess.
This is very sad and I wanted to make this post to alert others. When my daughter ran high school cross country, the girls used this stuff like it was nothing. I feel so lucky that neither my daughter (or her teammmates) ever became ill , but I am also very concerned that this is not getting the press needed to alert other runners.
I am sending the newspaper clipping to our HS coach so he is fully aware, but perhaps others here can spread the word as well.</p>
<p>The article I read stated that the medical examiner determined this girl did one of two things:</p>
<p>1) Used way too much of the cream.</p>
<p>2) Used a normal amount but her body absorbed a higher percentage of chemical than the majority of users.</p>
<p>Yes - it did say that. What concerns me is that the girls on my daughter’s team also used it quite liberally every day. Some of these girls barely weigh 100 pounds, so I would imagine that they are using way too much as well. I hear it is quite common and I doubt if any of them know that there is a potential danger ( albeit rare) of such overuse. It really is sad.</p>
<p>This whole story is a very sad one. It is always sad when a young, promising person dies prematurely. My heart is with the family. This was in ALL then newspapers here (we get two and the article got huge coverage in both). It got the attention of my kids. DD was a swimmer. She sometimes had muscle pain. HOWEVER…when it persisted, she didn’t keep swimming or use a topical cream. She went to the doctor. There is a warning on Bengay that clearly states that if symptoms persist, one should see a doctor. You have to wonder what the symptoms were and if they persisted.</p>
<p>In our experience the girls actually used it as a preventative. They would liberally rub it all over their legs before a meet to prevent soreness afterward. I was concerned when I saw it for the first time and I guess I was naive and just let it go instead of trusting my gut. ( or better yet -checking with the doctor) . I am very thankful that my d never got sick and I really feel compassion for that family. I understand that occasional, responsible use is safe, but the high school kids I know are doing the same things that girl did and that’s what scares me. </p>
<p>The Philadelphia Inquirer had about a 4 inch , one column article about this on page A21 - I was not sure how many would actually notice it. I am glad to hear your paper seems to have covered it better.</p>
<p>seems like they said also there was an “unknown substance” under the patch…wonder what that was.</p>
<p>Any death is sad. I wonder what kind of pain the girl was experiencing or if she thought it was preventing pain. I also wonder why her body was able to absorb so much. </p>
<p>About 20 years ago a hospital patient where I worked (who was also a friend of mine) had orders for the topical cream. The physician was trying to get the salicylate levels to a certain point. No matter how much we tried we couldn’t get her levels up. She had daily levels drawn. I cannot remember the reason, she did have a rather rare condition that would not allow the oral use of salicylates. The newer NSAIDS were still not out. Sadly, she died due to another condition a few years ago.</p>
<p>While it is not safe to use ANY over the counter drugs, I strongly believe that
this girl’s body was not metabolizing the substance.
But this is exactly the reason why it is not safe to use any drugs - you never know how your body is going to react.
I used these creams occasionally while my toddler had night leg pains (growing pains).</p>
<p>Kelowna-
I bet you are right, she wasn’t metabolizing it. Probably had condition that needed treatment.</p>
<p>I wonder whether she had any other symptoms before she died. It seems as if she would have gotten sick, gotten dizzy, or something before dying. If something seems off, always check with a doctor. It could have been that she dismissed her own symptoms, as we all do so often.</p>
<p>Apparently she had been complaining of fatigue and shortness of breath in the months preceeding her death. She had been evaluated by doctors and given an inhaler and some cream for a skin condition. However nobody identified the problem that eventually caused her death.
I read another article on-line that said this ingredient has been limited as an ingredient for some products by the fda before and there has been some controversy about it’s safety. Scary. Hopefully it is a rare condition of her not metabolizing it as some have suggested. I will still caution my d to use such creams sparingly if at all.</p>
<p>Arielle was a competitor and friend of zoosergirl. Her funeral was an agony. Needless to say, we are still reeling.</p>
<p>zoosermom,
I’m so sorry for this loss for your family and your D. This is just so tragic.</p>
<p>Oh zoosermom, so sorry to hear that she was your D’s friend. How is your D holding up?</p>
<p>Just shocked. This can’t have happened. It has broken the heart of an entire community. Sadly, we lost another kid the same age a couple of weeks later of a drug overdose. He had been battling addiction, with a great deal of help, and lost his battle. Arielle would have graduated last week, and this news came out around the same time. The press attention has been incredible, staking out the family’s house, harassing them. Arielle wasn’t Anna Nicole.</p>
<p>Hopefully the media will be on to the next story soon and leave them alone. I cannot imagine their pain. I am sorry for the loss for your whole community. Please know I did not post this to exploit or sensationalize her death, but as a warning to others in case we can somehow prevent another tragedy.</p>
<p>That’s exactly how I took it, PA Mom. My daughter is also a distance runner and you can imagine my shock because I never thought of this possibility at all. Part of the reason the media went so nuts was because our local newspaper did first. About 2 months (maybe less) before this tragedy, a female student at another Catholic school on Staten Island sent nude pictures of herself to a boyfriend who sent them to two friends, who sent them to two friends and so on and so on. That story became front page news after the pictures were disseminated to thousands of people and the girl was expelled because the newspaper has a thing against CAtholic school kids and takes great joy in publicizing any misdeeds. The death, coming so soon after this other story, particularly after the victim had gone to a notorious party the night before, led the newspaper to present the death as straight news, but print companion stories about Catholic school girls gone wild. There is a huge bias in that newspaper against CAtholic school families.</p>
<p>This has affected my daughter and her XC teammates as well - this girl finished right ahead of my daughter at the last NYS Federation meet, and she was quite talented. Our girls massage their muscles with special sticks that you can find at any running store instead of using cremes…hurts like heck but does the job better than chemicals. Our prayers are with this girls family and teammates…</p>