A two-month-old baby was nearly amputated! The culprit turned out to be a hair. These little things can't be ignored

Audit expert: Mao Xinmei

Chief Physician of Pediatrics, Ningxia Children's Hospital

Summer is here. I wonder if those friends who wear thin stockings have encountered this situation: the socks are torn by the toes, and since there is no way to change them in time, when you take off the socks after a day of hard work, you will find that your toes are hurt. In severe cases, the socks will sink into the flesh, leaving deep marks on the toes!

Adults can be hurt by torn fabrics, not to mention delicate infants and young children. Can you believe that a strand of hair entangled in the body almost caused the baby to have his limbs amputated? !

Recently, there was a medical case that frightened many mothers: a baby less than 3 months old had abnormal swelling on the right ring toe. After the parents went to the doctor, the doctor carefully diagnosed that it was a strand of hair wrapped around the base of the baby's toe, causing severe hypoxia and ischemia in the local tissue . If the baby had gone to the doctor 2 hours later, he might have faced the risk of necrosis and toe amputation.

Image source: Daily Mail

1

Why is hair so destructive?

Why can a tiny strand of hair be so lethal?

In the home, whether in the bathroom or bedroom, hair is inevitably scattered everywhere. Most adults are used to it and think that if hair falls on the body, they just need to remove it. However, we would never think that a small strand of hair can cause great harm to the baby.

Because babies' bodies are soft and fragile and their limb control is not strong, when hair or wool gets entangled around their bodies, they do not have the ability to remove the hair by themselves. As they roll and swing their hands and feet, the hair may get caught on local tissues, hindering blood circulation, leading to tissue necrosis and inflammation.

This condition, called "hair tourniquet syndrome," often occurs in young children when a strand of hair or string gets tightly wrapped around a baby's toes, fingers or genitals, causing strangulation or lacerations.

Image source: Shandong TV

Babies cannot speak, and when they encounter hair tourniquet syndrome, they cannot express the damage they have suffered. Mothers can only judge that they are uncomfortable by their children's crying, but it is difficult to accurately find the cause. In addition, babies' body joints are not yet fully developed, and hair is more likely to hide in the joints, causing "hair tourniquet syndrome". Therefore, the damage caused by small hair to babies should not be underestimated.

One of the most common causes of hair tourniquet syndrome is postpartum hair loss in mothers. Since mothers are the people who have the most close contact with their babies, a large amount of hair loss in mothers can cause hair to accidentally fall on the baby, leading to the occurrence of hair tourniquet syndrome. Alternatively, it can be caused by the child accidentally getting hair on the baby while crawling, so hair found in corners of the home should be cleaned up in time to ensure the safety of the baby.

In addition, if an active baby frequently moves his fingers or toes, hair hemostasis syndrome may occur due to holes in the clothes or unthreading of the seams .

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How to respond after it happens?

When hair tourniquet syndrome occurs, how should we deal with it to protect the baby in the first place?

First of all, if parents find that their baby has entanglement symptoms but the symptoms are mild, they can use scissors or other tools to cut off the entanglement such as hair. If the baby's condition is serious and the lines have been tied into the body and cannot be seen, they need to seek medical attention in time, and sometimes surgery may be required.

Here we need to remind everyone that if you find that your baby's body parts are inexplicably swollen, and the toes, fingers, and tongue are red or pale, you should take your child to the doctor immediately. The sooner the better the treatment. Any delay may lead to tissue necrosis and the risk of amputation. Parents must race against time!

Finally, it is better to take precautions. When taking care of your baby, you need to check your baby's fingers, toes and other parts frequently to ensure that there is no hair or thread around them. At the same time, you should also trim your baby's nails in time to prevent them from getting tangled in the lines of clothes. In addition, be careful not to place elastic loops such as rubber bands near your baby , or use them to tie your baby's clothes or quilt corners. Babies may wrap rubber bands around their bodies out of curiosity, causing local ischemia. In addition, babies grow up every day and may be strangled by rubber bands in a few days.

It is also important to note that you should not ignore your baby's crying! When your baby expresses his or her discomfort through crying, parents should consciously check whether there is hair or thread entanglement on the baby's body, whether there is swelling or indentation, and exclude hair hemostasis syndrome before looking for other causes.

Even a tiny strand of hair can cause irreparable damage. Taking care of a baby is a patient and meticulous job. It also requires certain hygiene knowledge and skills. You need to be able to understand the signals sent by the baby and avoid potential risks for them. This is something that every adult needs to learn. To ensure the healthy growth of your baby, start by cleaning his hair!