If you’re anything like us, then you regularly walk around with a hair elastic around your wrist for those moments (typing at the laptop, doing the laundry, etc.) when you just need to get your hair off of your face. Well, if this latest report is anything to go by, then we really need to kick this habit – and nip it in the bud with our copycat little ones.
American woman Audree Kopp has gone public with her story, after catching a potentially serious infection from the bacteria in her hair-tie.
Sharing the story with local media, Audree explained how she noticed a growth on her wrist while moving home recently. Certain it was just a spider bite, Audree didn’t dwell too much on it. However, when the growth kept getting bigger, she decided it was time to get it checked out by a doctor.
Audree was immediately put on a course of antibiotics for an infection which, alarmingly, her doctor believes she caught from her glitter hair elastic. She also had to undergo surgery to have the growth removed.
Dr Amit Gupta, from Kentucky, thinks that bacteria from the hair-tie got under Audree’s skin through her pores and hair follicles.
While Audree is now back to full health, Dr Gupta shared a stark warning: “It could have been a whole different ball game. Once it gets into your bloodstream, people have been known to go into a coma; your body shuts down.”
So, the best way to avoid this nasty situation? Don’t wear a hair elastic around your wrist, and if you insist on doing so just make sure you either wash it or change it regularly.
