
I wanted to unzip my skin after getting a virus from a charity shop – I tried a silly TikTok hack… don't make my mistake
Meg's warning will make you think twice about trying out TikTok trends
, Digital Senior Reporter
A WOMAN has warned against trying out a silly "TikTok trend" after she ended up contracting a skin infection when trying it out in a charity shop.
Meg had uploaded a video which she had intended to be a before and after look at her spray tan, but it ended up being something very different.
3
3
3
As she and her friend prepared to head to the tanning booth, Meg's pal pointed out that a small rash that had started on the back of her neck a week before was "spawning" onto her face.
And because she had the beauty filter turned on for the video, she hadn't noticed.
However the itchiness was hard to ignore, as Meg said she "literally want to unzip out of my skin".
After deciding she wouldn't have the tan, Meg instead opted to head to the local hospital, as she said that the speed at which the rash spread "scared" her.
Once she was at the urgent care centre, the doctor told her they were going to treat the rash in two ways - one with oral antibiotics, and one with a cream.
When she left, Meg was scratching her head trying to figure out where she could have contracted the virus.
She'd previously tried swapping her shampoo, skincare products and jewellery, as she thought they may have been responsible for the little bumps first appearing.
However, once she'd been to the hospital, she once again tried to figure out how she had ended up with the infection - and decided to look through her previous videos to see if it jogged her memory.
When she did so, she came across a clip of herself in the charity shop - where she tried out a TikTok hack which involves wrapping the waistband of jeans around the neck to see if they'd fit.
And when she suggested to the doctor that the hack could have potentially been responsible, he immediately agreed.
We went hunting in the charity shop's 'rag house' and were stunned by our discoveries - we found a £80 bag & £600 shirt
So Meg then returned to TikTok to warn others against trying out the trend.
"I just wanted to come on here and say I'm so sorry, I take full responsibility for like spreading that trend," she sighed.
"Please don't try that!"
She also urged people to always wash their charity shop clothes before putting them on.
"That was what caused it," she concluded.
And the comments section was almost immediately filled with people stunned by Meg's revelation.
Top charity shop tips for bagging a bargain
Ross Dutton has been a manager for Crisis's charity shops for four years and currently runs the charity's Finsbury Park shop in London.
Choose your area - As a rule of thumb, the posher the area, the better quality the clothes that are donated.
Don't hang around - If you see something you like, buy it, as it'll likely be gone when you come back
Look out for cut-off labels - Some of your favourite high street stores will have deals with local charity shops to donate stock that isn't sold during their own sales. Often part of the deal is that they need to cut the labels off the clothes.
Stay at home - While some charities have their own site, like Oxfam and Crisis. many also sell from dedicated eBay stores, such as British Heart Foundation and Scope. You won't get the range of bargains that you would get in a physical store, but if you're looking for something specific it may be worth checking online too.
"Omg I've been doing that hack for YEARS," one gasped.
"Stop…I do this all the time…!" another said.
"Got it - I will never be doing this again," a third promised.
"I've done the jean trick for years - have never had this happen but nice to know it could be unsafe," someone else wrote.
"Same - I think it was the hangers at this specific store!!" Meg replied.
While others shared their own similar "horror stories", with one writing: "My ex got ink poisoning from his new jeans for wearing them before washing them.
"He was in the hospital because of it!"
"Thrifting horror story: when I was a child I had a veryyy small on my foot cut from a stubbed toe," another added.
"We bought some light up Barbie shoes from a thrift store that my mum let me wear straight out of the store.
"I ended up getting very intense staph that had me hospitalised and almost lost my leg."
"As someone who works in retail, the clothes stay out all day, thousands of people touch them everyday," a third commented.
"We do not wash the clothes - we fold them, fix them up, that is it.
"This is why I wash everything used or new in stores before I wear it!" someone else sighed.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


BBC News
2 minutes ago
- BBC News
Oswestry gym with wellbeing focus welcomes lottery boost
A gym set up with a focus on the wellbeing of body and mind has been awarded a £14,000 lottery grant to develop its Soma Space in Oswestry was established two years ago by Kevin Braddock, a psychotherapist and fitness instructor, and Jo Hazell-Watkins, a personal trainer and trauma-informed strength offers combined strength training and psychotherapy, and prospective clients can refer themselves or be referred by social care workers and Braddock said the gym was there to help people start exercising, know what to do and where, and who with, adding that everyone knew about the benefits of exercise on mental health, but the question for many was " how do you do it". The 12 lesson online Movement for Mental Health programme, which has received the lottery support, focuses on six basic movements designed to boost mental Braddock said: "Our tagline is movement for mental health."We're interested in is the benefits of exercise on mental health, which sort of everybody knows about, but the question is how do you do it."For somebody who might be struggling with mental illness or poor mental health, how do they go about starting to exercise? What do they do? Who with? Where?" 'A sense of relief' "As long as you've got a couple of metres square, or a garden, or a space where you feel comfortable to be in, you can start moving," Ms Hazell-Watkins could try a set of 10 squats just by sitting on a chair and getting back up again, or go for a walk 10 times around their garden," she added."A private space, no special clothes and anything that puts a little bit of demand on your body is a good start," she said. Imogen, who uses to Soma Space, had always been nervous of going to a gym because she thought it would be "full of people who were super fit and super strong and I didn't consider myself to be one of those people".She said her nerves soon evaporated, adding: "It's helped me certainly with low moods and feeling depressed... When I leave there I feel a sense of relief. I just feel calmer and more at ease." Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.


Telegraph
2 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Fish oil could ward off Alzheimer's in women
Fish oil could help to ward off Alzheimer's disease in women, a study has revealed. Researchers found that omega fatty acids – often found in fish or available as a supplement – could reduce the risk of developing dementia. By looking at the fat molecules in the body called lipids, they found that the make-up of these fats differed in women who suffered from Alzheimer's compared with those who did not. However, they stressed that more work was needed to see whether 'shifting the lipid composition can influence the biological trajectory' of the disease. Scientists from Kings College London and Queen Mary University London looked at blood samples taken from 841 people, including 306 people with Alzheimer's, 165 with mild cognitive impairment and 370 healthy people. They discovered that in women with Alzheimer's disease, there were significantly more saturated fats – the 'unhealthy' kind – than those without the condition, and they also had fewer of the healthier unsaturated fats, which included omega fatty acids. There was no difference identified in fat make-up of men with and without the diseases, which the experts said may improve our understanding of why women are more often diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Dr Cristina Legido-Quigley, a senior author of the study from King's College London, said: 'Women are disproportionately impacted by Alzheimer's disease and are more often diagnosed with the disease than men after the age of 80. 'One of the most surprising things we saw when looking at the different sexes was that there was no difference in these lipids in healthy and cognitively impaired men, but for women this picture was completely different,' she added. She said the findings open 'new avenues for research' and also 'suggests that women should make sure they are getting omega fatty acids in their diet – through fatty fish or via supplements'. Two thirds living with dementia are women Dr Asger Wretlind, first author of the study from King's College London, said it was the first study to 'show the importance of lipids containing omegas in the blood' and that the 'results are very striking'. 'Now we are looking at how early in life this change occurs in women.' he said. Dr Julia Dudley, head of research at Alzheimer's Research UK, which funded the study along with LundbeckFonden, said two thirds of people in the UK living with dementia are women, which 'could be linked to living longer, or other risk factors like social isolation, education, or hormonal changes from the menopause being at play'. 'While this study shows that women with Alzheimer's had lower levels of some unsaturated fats compared with men, further work is needed,' she said. 'This includes understanding the mechanisms behind this difference and finding out if lifestyle changes, including diet, could have a role.' People can consume omega-3 fatty acids by eating fatty fish including salmon, mackerel or sardines, or by taking a supplement. The study was published in the journal Alzheimer's and Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association.


The Independent
31 minutes ago
- The Independent
NHS push to stamp out ‘silent killer' with at-home testing
The NHS has identified 225 individuals with hepatitis C following its national at-home testing service, launched in May 2023. Over 100,000 at-home hepatitis C tests have been requested since the service began, including a surge after the Infected Blood Inquiry's final report in May 2024. Hepatitis C, often called a 'silent killer', can lead to severe liver damage if undiagnosed, but is treatable with antiviral tablets. Among those diagnosed, seven in ten are from deprived communities, with common risk factors including injecting drug use, though a small number are linked to contaminated blood. NHS England has also introduced a system for new GP registrants to identify those who received blood transfusions before 1996, aiming to find more victims of the infected blood scandal.