Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Toe Tourniquet- Parents Please Read!

I got a pretty good scare last night when I was changing Josh's diaper and getting him ready for bed. I happened to notice his middle toe on his right foot was bright red. One of my hairs had wrapped around his middle toe a couple times causing the blood flow to be cut off. Poor Josh had not been fussy or shown any signs of pain so I had no clue. I quickly ripped the hair off while Josh cried and then I had to make sure it was completely gone. He was not happy with me and did not want me to touch it. The first picture was taken about 15 minutes after I got the hair off and the second was taken this morning. It still doesn't look normal, but I can tell it's getting better. How scary! I actually read about this happening to a lady on a board I used to post on. Her son also had a hair wrapped around his toe, but it was wrapped so tight they had to take him to the ER to get it off. I found out there is actually a term for this in the medical world: toe tourniquet syndrome. Wikipedia says a Hair tourniquet is a medical condition where in a hair or other thread becomes tied around a toe or finger tightly, so as to put the digit at risk of damage. Occasionally this is known as Toe tourniquet.The problem usually arises in babies and small children when hairs and thread are lost loosely inside socks. They can become spontaneously tied round a toe and will tend to tighten with wriggling.

Please make sure to check your little babies' fingers and toes often, and check for stray hairs inside of their footed sleepers and socks. I know this is a pretty rare thing (it never happened to my older two) but I think everyone should still be aware of it. I would hate to think what might have happened if I hadn't seen it for a few days... the poor thing!!

PS The last picture is of Josh showing off his cool new pose. He's getting more mobile by the second and lately this is how he likes to sit, not directly on his bum, but to the side. He's my sweetheart.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yikes, I've never heard of that before. I will make sure to check my little guys digits a couple times a day. Especially since I have been shedding like mad!

Ashleigh said...

Oh my gosh, that's really scary. I had never ever thought of something like that happening. Good thing you saw it when you did. I'll be vacuuming and sweeping constantly now, as well as checking fingers and toes, OR maybe I should just shave my head. Then my children can be safe from my crazy mane.

Unknown said...

Yeah- I have actually caught a few of those on my babies, but I never actually thought it could get so bad. I shed so much after babies that my hair is everywhere.

I love the side pose. Elsie does that, too & it cracks me up!

Iliana said...

Who knew, thats kindda scary! Poor guy. And that last pic is too funny. That is EXACTLY how Gavin chills too. So cute!

Darren and Traci said...

I had heard of this but thought it was mostly one of those 1 in a million type of things that over protective parents worry about. That's so scary! Allison always seems to have one of my hairs in her hands, I'll have to make sure to check those little toes more often though, thanks for sharing.

Jennifer said...

Poor little guy. He is soo cute though!
Thanks for the heads up on this. I've heard of it, but never realized how serious it could be.

McLane said...

Yeikes, I am so glad you saw it when you did. I have never seen that happen before. Your kids are so cute!