Don’t lick that cold metal pole in winter – don’t panic if you do

Example of tongue tissue damage after detachment

Tundra tongue cases peaked in the 1950s, and there were several cases of children reading a story about their tongue getting stuck and deciding to give it a try – no doubt in a “triple dog dare” like Flick’s. A Christmas Story. Almost all of the cases involved children between the ages of 1 and 16 (60 percent of them boys), and almost all of them occurred outdoors except for two cases: one involving a closed refrigeration system and another in which children were served ice cream stored in dry ice that later caused cuts on their tongues. (The authors derisively described the latter as a “mass casualty event”.)

One of the most memorable cases involved a young child who got his tongue caught in a metal railroad track; Fortunately, the oncoming train was able to move onto another track in time, and the boy eventually got out of the jam. The incident brought to mind the 1927 Indiana urban myth of a man who got his tongue caught in a railroad track and was decapitated by an oncoming train.

Most of the remedies used in these cases consisted of applying water (usually heated), but people also resorted to glycerin, coffee, whiskey, a penknife, a car lighter, and hot denatured alcohol, and often called the police or fire department. Generally, victims suffered mild bleeding and some pain, but there were more serious cases that required hospital treatment, resulting in stitches, risk of infection, facial scarring and even potential tongue amputation.

Sticky situation

When Jarmund reviewed the medical literature, he found little experimental research on the actual dangers of tundra tongue. The tongue is known to stick to a cold metal surface because saliva and moisture on the tongue freeze to form an “ice bridge” between the two surfaces. But how much force is needed to separate the tongue? Is there an optimal temperature at which tundra tongue risks are greatest?