PROTECT YOUR BABY FROM HAIR!

[summer]

I want to be informed as well as anyone else of potential hazards, and I'm sure this can be very serious if it happens, but bless if there isn't a new study everyday aiming to scare the fuck out of new parents.




vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/14/12227285-hidden-hairs-can-strangle-babys-tiny-toes-doc-warns?lite

When it comes to babies, it seems that danger lurks in the most unusual of places. Certainly one would never see a wisp of human hair as a menace.

But, as it turns out, if a single strand of hair wraps around a baby’s toe, it can cut off circulation and ultimately doom the appendage. Though rare, this happens often enough for doctors to have given it a name: toe tourniquet syndrome.

Michelle Whelan’s baby was one of the lucky ones. One day as Whelan was changing her infant she noticed that several of her baby’s toes were beginning to turn purple. Whelan was sure if she couldn’t find out what was wrong that her baby might lose one or more of her toes.
Advertise | AdChoices

Fortunately for Whelan, the surgeon at her local hospital on Massachusetts' Nantucket Island, Dr. Timothy Lepore, recognized right away what had happened. He pulled out his magnifying glasses, spotted the culprit strand and cut it away.

Whelan’s story, along with many other intriguing cases handled by Lepore, are described in the new book “Island Practice,” written by Pam Belluck, a New York Times health writer.

“I didn’t know anything about toe tourniquet syndrome when I had my two kids,” says Belluck. “It’s not in any pregnancy books or first-year books. You’d think the hair would break, but it’s apparently very strong and can get 100 revolutions around a tiny toe if you have long hair.”

The actual incidence of toe tourniquet syndrome is unknown, but doctors have documented dozens of reports of rare cases. The problem doesn’t always involve the toes. A 1988 Pediatrics study reviewed 60 cases of what was dubbed “hair-thread tourniquet syndrome.” Of those, 24 incidents involved toes, 14 involved fingers and 22 painful incidents reported hair wrapped around babies’ genitals, including tiny penises.

As recently as this year, the Hong Kong Journal of Paediatrics reported the case of a 2 1/2-month-old girl whose right fourth toe was inexplicably blue and swollen -- until doctors detected an errant hair and removed it.

Lepore says he’s seen only three cases in his 30 years of practice. But he’s still on alert for the syndrome any time he sees a baby with a discolored toe or other digit.

“You’ve got to have a persistent paranoid suspicion whenever you see something that doesn’t look right -- like a blue or a red toe,” he says. “And you can’t let people blow you off. If your kid’s toe is blue there’s got to be a reason.”

The danger, if your doctor doesn’t recognize toe tourniquet syndrome, is that your baby could lose a toe, Lepore says. Don’t be afraid to mention toe tourniquet syndrome to the doctor if that diagnosis doesn’t get consideration, he adds.

[statlerwaldorf]

I caught a hair wrapped around one of DD's fingers that was cutting off circulation. She was fine and all, but I was paranoid after that especially since my hair was shedding like crazy.

[copzgirl1171]

My kids were both hair pullers when they were nursing (mine not theirs) and it seemed like I was always unwrapping hair from their fingers.

[obladi]

Oddly enough this happened to me when I was an infant. My mom actually took me to the ped. because my big tow was inflamed and discolored.

[OscarQ]

I was just worried about my son eating hair. In the last 18 months he's human, dog and cat hair. Interesting finding - it is my experience that human hair does not digest well. I've pulled several full, long strands of hair out of his butt. Hope you weren't eating!

[wawa]

How bizarre. This is totally going to happen to my futurebabies.

As it is I shed worse than the dog. I don't even want to think about postpartum.

And when my hair was midback long i broke not one but TWO vacuums because my hair got all wound up in the beater bar mechanism. MH keeps telling me he likes my hair chin length because it's curlier and frames my face, but I really think it's because he's tired of fixing the vacuum.

[wawa]

Jun 15, 2012 13:43:34 GMT -5 OscarQ said:

I was just worried about my son eating hair. In the last 18 months he's human, dog and cat hair. Interesting finding - it is my experience that human hair does not digest well. I've pulled several full, long strands of hair out of his butt. Hope you weren't eating!

I have this issue with both my cats and my dog.

I'm just glad that human hair is apparently fine enough that it's not an obstruction issue. It just makes really gross poop strands (think like a beaded necklace) that I find in the litter box.

You're welcome for that image btw.

[meshaliuknits]

Jun 15, 2012 13:50:11 GMT -5 wawa said:

Jun 15, 2012 13:43:34 GMT -5 OscarQ said:

I was just worried about my son eating hair. In the last 18 months he's human, dog and cat hair. Interesting finding - it is my experience that human hair does not digest well. I've pulled several full, long strands of hair out of his butt. Hope you weren't eating!

I have this issue with both my cats and my dog.

I'm just glad that human hair is apparently fine enough that it's not an obstruction issue. It just makes really gross poop strands (think like a beaded necklace) that I find in the litter box.

You're welcome for that image btw.

I'm sad that I know exactly what you're talking about.

[pixy0stix]

ZB had one wrap around her finger. It's just one of those things to watch out for.

[marie427]

Geez, I shed like whoa. Looks like when the time comes I'll be wearing a hairnet all the time.

[livinitup]

"You’ve got to have a persistent paranoid suspicion"

This pretty much sums-up what I get from reading and watching anything about children and parenting.

[Deleted]

Jun 15, 2012 13:57:49 GMT -5 livinitup said:

"You’ve got to have a persistent paranoid suspicion"

This pretty much sums-up what I get from reading and watching anything about children and parenting.

Diiittttto. And I have a 5-week old. Yay.

[wobbly]

I remember learning about this in my Red Cross babysitting class back in the late 80s, so definitely not new.

[ChillyMcFreeze]

Geez, talk about a good reason to chop it all off when you have kids. I already shed like crazy.

[downtoearth]

I wouldn't have believed this without seeing it. Two people I know have had problems. One was able to use tweezers to get a hair from being wrapped around a toe (that was turning blue), but the other friend had to go to the doctor to get the hair removed b/c it was so tight and the toe was really blue.

Neither are paranoid parent types at all, it just happened. I doubt either gives it a thought now and who would worry about this ahead of time, but I guess it's good that you can put it out there as an issue.

[ttt]

I've heard this before, though not the whole "your kid could lose his toe!' part. I always heard that if your baby was crying and you couldn't figure out what was wrong, you should check their fingers and toes to make sure they don't have a hair wrapped around them.

[JLN]

I'm really paranoid about this. Both DH and I have thick, long hair and I always check DS's toes and penis for stray hairs.

[ringstrue]

Is this a curly haired person thing? I have straight hair and I remember being paranoid about this when she was real new but for all my shedding it never happened. Does this mean we are just perfect parents??

[mayflowers22]

This is one of my biggest concerns with having an infant.

[ttt]

Jun 17, 2012 0:06:30 GMT -5 mayflowers22 said:

This is one of my biggest concerns with having an infant.

I dont think it should be- its really not THAT common and any permanent injury from it happening is extremely rare.

There are much more serious and more common things to be concerned about with infants.

[backinpgh]

Is this going to become like the heated lunchmeat thing? "OMG, I can't believe you would endanger your baby by refusing to shave off all the hair on your body!"

[MrsDL]

Jun 15, 2012 13:37:34 GMT -5 @domerjen said:

Yeah, the ironic thing about this is that women shed hair like CRAZY after giving birth.

I read that if a baby is fussy and you can't figure out why it's always good to undress them and look them over for strange issues like that.

I read this too in one of the baby books while trying to "trouble-shoot" DS when he was a few weeks old. It said check fingers, toes, and the penis. I'm paranoid about it too and still double check when I'm changing him or when he's crying and I'm not sure why.

[sawyerthedestroyer]

This was in Parenting magazine about a year ago in the It Happened to Me section. I've been paranoid ever since.