Last month, a mother named Heather Fricke went viral after sharing a Facebook post warning parents about a common danger and advising them to check their children’s toes.
My son Jacob is 10 weeks old and he’s never cries except for his basic needs, well today after his diaper change I put him down for his standard 2 hr nap. He woke up, I fed and changed both his diaper and clothes for a party we were going to… I handed him to his dad Tommy to put socks on him when Tommy realized his two toes were blue and tied together with a strand of hair!!! I immediately took off what I could and had to take him to the ER where we spent a hour and a team of 5 doctors trying to get the rest of MY HAIR off his two toes.. doctors said if I didn’t take off the hair that I was able to get off that his 2 toes they would’ve had to be amputated… he’s doing just well, in a little pain and his poor toes look like they hurt so bad.. CHECK YOUR BABYS TOES AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN!!! And if you have a baby boy even his PENIS. Yes I said penis… they are such tiny baby’s and our hair can be such a hazard but it’s something that we never really pay attention to.. so plz share this with all your mom friends with little babies!!!! Tracy Sonja !!!
This is 12 hrs after the hair was removed 😔
According to Daily Mail UK, Jacob was experiencing ‘toe tourniquet syndrome’, a condition which occurs when a strand of hair wraps itself around a child’s toe. As the appendage loses circulation, it begins to swell. “Infections can develop as the hair cuts into the flesh as it tightens like cheese wire,” sources explain.
Human hair is extremely thin, and some colors, like blonde, can be nearly impossible to see with the naked eye. In the UK, Daily Mail reports that doctors treat roughly 60 cases of toe tourniquet syndrome per year. It is most common amongst babies under 19 months old, as this is the time that more than 90% of mothers experience postpartum hair loss.
Dr. Muhammad Ali Hussain of the Canberra Hospital told the Canberra Times, “I’ve treated about three or four [children with the syndrome] myself, but a lot of people are not aware of it, even some doctors.”
“They get entangled and the mother doesn’t notice what has happened until the time they start crying and they don’t know exactly what is happening, why they are crying. By the time they present it’s already a couple of days and it has been through the toe.”
Although toe tourniquet syndrome specifically refers to a hair wrapping itself around a toe, other appendages can be affected as well, including fingers, penises, and earlobes.
So, as Heather urges new moms everywhere, please be vigilant about checking babies’ for tangled hair. The consequences aren’t worth such an easy fix.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
https://www.facebook.com/heather.fricke.7/posts/1718136061537971
