IT can be really destressing when your baby cries for seemingly no reason.
Especially when you’ve tried everything possible to calm him or her down.
Hair tourniquets syndrome can happen when one or more hairs become wrapped around a digit
A hair being wrapped so tightly that it could cut into the skin and cut off circulation.
There is one, easily fixable, condition which many parents won’t consider when faced with their screaming baby – hair tourniquets syndrome.
It’s a condition that can happen when one or more hairs become wrapped around a digit, such as a toe, finger or even penis, the NHS says on its website.
Mostly, the condition occurs in babies and toddlers – with the hair being wrapped so tightly that it cuts into the skin, sometimes cutting off circulation.
Posting to the Tiny Hearts Foundation Instagram page, first aid expert Nikki Jurcutz urges parents to regularly check their baby’s extremities to ensure they’re not entangled in hair.
“If your little one is crying and not able to settle, don’t forget to check for this,” she said.
The most obvious symptoms to watch out for include:
Sudden crying without any noticeable reasonNot able to settleSwellingRedness or other discolouration of the body partTight line around the body part
TREATMENT
The NHS states that treatment begins with recognising the issue.
Experts state that extreme close examination may be needed to find the hair, and that you might need to use a magnifying glass or a bright light.
In order to treat the tourniquet, first aider Nikki explained that you can apply a small amount of hair removal cream for 10 minutes.
However, she said you can only do this as long as the skin around the area is still intact.
You should then rinse the area with warm water.
If the hair remains wrapped or the skin is broken or bleeding, then you should take your little one to the nearest emergency department, she said.
One mum previously revealed how she was worried her baby could have lost a toe after a single strand of hair had become wrapped around her son’s toe.
Sara Ward says she first noticed a red line across the middle toe of her son’s right foot – but didn’t think it could be anything besides a minor irritation.
But over the next few days, five-month-old Logan’s toe began to swell and turn red before the family’s pediatrician confirmed it was a hair tourniquet.
After having the hair removed the family were sent home, but hours later they had to admit little Logan to a children’s hospital in St. Louis as the toe began to look “purple” as the circulation was increasingly being cut off.
Sara says she is now “vigilant” in checking her little one’s fingers and toes for any strands of hair, knowing just how dangerous they can be.
“I would encourage other parents to have awareness about this if they do see a hair wrapping around their child’s toes or fingers to remove it as quickly as they can before it starts to constrict and swell and if they can’t get it to seek medical attention.”