New York medical examiner's office announced last week that a teenage American track star had died after excessive use of muscle relaxing cream that contained the ingredient methyl salicylate.
Arielle Newman, a 17-year-old cross country runner was suffering from pains in her legs because of her demanding training schedule. To ease the pain and relax the muscles, she used large amounts of muscle cream that contained the already mentioned methyl salicylate. The medical examiners reported that the girl had died from an accidental overdose of the substance.
Methyl salicylate is often present in products like Tiger Balm, BenGay and Icy Hot. The incident with a 17-year-old Arielle Newman was the first death of its kind. Medical experts report that methyl salicylate a.k.a wintergreen is a common poison and that it could cause sweating, vomiting, tinnitus and blurred vision if taken in moderate doses.
However, in large doses, the methyl salicylate may have a strong effect on the central nervous system and cause tremors and fits, before leading to coma and respiratory depression. Death was supposed to be incredibly rare and occur in cases where a child would directly swallow the substance.
Since Arielle died, there have been calls for clearer warnings about the risks of using muscle relaxing creams and liniments.
Arielle Newman, a 17-year-old cross country runner was suffering from pains in her legs because of her demanding training schedule. To ease the pain and relax the muscles, she used large amounts of muscle cream that contained the already mentioned methyl salicylate. The medical examiners reported that the girl had died from an accidental overdose of the substance.
Methyl salicylate is often present in products like Tiger Balm, BenGay and Icy Hot. The incident with a 17-year-old Arielle Newman was the first death of its kind. Medical experts report that methyl salicylate a.k.a wintergreen is a common poison and that it could cause sweating, vomiting, tinnitus and blurred vision if taken in moderate doses.
However, in large doses, the methyl salicylate may have a strong effect on the central nervous system and cause tremors and fits, before leading to coma and respiratory depression. Death was supposed to be incredibly rare and occur in cases where a child would directly swallow the substance.
Since Arielle died, there have been calls for clearer warnings about the risks of using muscle relaxing creams and liniments.