"Keep hair removal cream handy,” mum pleads after infant almost lost toe

“I took her sock off and her toes were swollen and purple—hair was tangled around them,” Kristina remembers the account.

You may not think of hair removal cream as a staple in your baby’s diaper bag, but after reading this mum’s account, you may start buying one for your baby.

According to mum Kristina Clarke from Sydney, she first noticed that there was something was wrong with her five-month-old daughter when she was changing her diaper.

Upon taking off her daughter Bryleigh’s socks, she saw that her toes were irritated and swollen.

“I was getting her ready for her bottle and, a little bit unusually, I had dressed her in socks and tights,” she told Mail Online. “I took her sock off and her toes were swollen and purple—hair was tangled around them.”

That was when she realised that a hair strand had been caught around her daughter’s feet, cutting off the supply of blood to her toes.

This phenomenon is called a hair tourniquet.

Sadly, it is common in babies, and occurs when a strand of hair becomes tied around a digit and tightens with wriggling, is surprisingly common in babies.

Kristina tried removing the strand herself, but it only caused it to tighten even more. It was also wrapped so tightly around her skin that any attempts to cut it off left the baby bleeding.

The thought that her daughter could potentially lose her toe drove Kristina to rush to the hospital.

And like Kristina, the doctors struggled to cut the strand for hours.

That is, until one of the doctors came up with a genius thought—using a hair removal cream to dissolve the strand.

“honestly thought she was going to lose her toe. I’ve been a mum for 18 years and it has never even crossed my mind,“ she said. “But doctors said it was the third case they had seen that week.”

After the harrowing ordeal, Kristina wants all mums to continue trusting their instincts.

“Don’t panic—but if you feel like your child needs to go to hospital there is nothing wrong with taking them there,” she said. “And always keep a can of hair removal cream handy.”

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Written by

James Martinez

Child Safetyhair tourniquet