Children can lose fingers and toes from just... a single hair falling out.

Pain, interrupted blood circulation or even amputation of a body part are unpredictable consequences if a hair accidentally wraps around a child's finger or toe.

When having young children, parents always try to protect them from harmful agents. But few parents can foresee the danger to their children's health from just a strand of hair.

This seemingly absurd story is actually a rare medical syndrome called “hair tourniquet”, which is a phenomenon where a part of a baby’s body is tightly wrapped by a strand of hair or fabric. Hair tourniquet can also occur in adults but is especially common in babies under 4 months old. Because this is the time when mothers lose the most hair due to hormonal changes after giving birth and the baby’s body parts are still small, hair or fabric can easily cause trouble for the baby.

The child's big toe was red and swollen after being wrapped tightly with a strand of hair (Facebook: Scott Walker)

A hair or a piece of fabric can get tangled around any part of a newborn baby’s body, but most commonly the fingers and toes, or the wrists and ankles. In rare cases, a hair can even cause damage to a baby boy’s genitals, which is difficult for mothers to detect and treat promptly because the baby is often wearing diapers.

If the child suddenly cries violently and is difficult to soothe, the mother needs to immediately check the child's body. The place where the finger or toe is tightly strangled by the hair will become red, bruised and swollen within 3-5 minutes because the blood circulation is severely interrupted, causing ischemia. The more swollen the child's finger or toe is, the tighter the strangulation will be, making the child's injury more serious if not treated promptly.

Serious consequences of hair tourniquet syndrome in infants

Dr. Timothy Lepore, who works in Nantucket, Massachusetts (USA), said he has seen babies with this syndrome throughout his 30 years as a doctor. But every time he encounters an emergency case of a newborn with discolored or bruised toes, he often thinks of this syndrome.

Lepore also shared with mothers of newborns, “When you see something unusual like a toe turning blue or red, you should question it. There has to be a reason why the child’s toe is discolored.” According to Lepore, in case the doctor cannot identify this syndrome, the child’s finger or toe will most likely be amputated.

Below are some tips to help mothers prevent hair tourniquet syndrome in children:

- Check your baby's hands and feet regularly every day to make sure there are no hair or fabric fibers stuck to the fingers or toes. Especially for newborns whose mothers have just given them socks and gloves.

- Check children's clothes: make sure there are no loose hairs, fabric fibers or loose threads that could get tangled in children's arms or legs. When buying new clothes for your child, you need to cut off excess threads and wash them thoroughly before letting your child use them. Mothers should wash children's clothes separately and wash them from the inside out: so that no hairs or fabric fibers from adult clothes can stick to them.

- Mother's hair falls out easily after giving birth, so it needs to be swept and neatly combed to limit hair from falling and falling in places where the baby spends a lot of time.

If your child unfortunately gets a strand of hair tangled around his toe, you need to stay calm and handle it promptly.

If your child is unlucky enough to have hair tourniquet syndrome, you should find a way to remove the hair as quickly as possible using tools such as nail clippers. At that time, your child should avoid struggling and you should apply a layer of ointment to the hair to make it easier to cut. In case the hair has been cut off but your child still cries violently, you should take your child to the doctor immediately for timely treatment.

This is just one of many dangers lurking around children every day that parents need to know to keep their children safe.

According to Gia dinh.net