Hair Wrapped Tightly Around 18Month Olds Toe

What I would be doing is looking at the capillary refill on the toe or toenail. Press on the toe tip or toe nail it should go white then release it should quickly fill back in. This means that blood flow is good and the tissues are getting oxygen. Then keep an eye on the hairline mark is it slowly raising back to normal skin level or is it staying with no noticed improvement. If either is not improving I'd check in with your doctor or get a second opinion. Also is the child in pain if so I'd suspect that something is either still there or an infection has started. I would be very careful about the use of nair as it can cause skin burns on delicate skin as it works by destroying the protein in a shaft of hair, skin is also a protein. I myself have gotten blisters from nair so use this advice guardedly. Hope all is normal soon.

hi J.,
i also had this happen!!! to my daughter when she was about 7 months old...she's now 5...
anyway, she began screaming inconsolably and i finally discovered the hair around her toe!! ouch!! was able to unwind it and yes the toe did stay red for quite some time...even had lines on it where the hair was!! poor thing!
I would just make sure that there is still blood flow to the tip of the toe...maybe massage that little piggie :) sometimes its hard to see the hair especially if its blond...like mine was...but if the doc can't see it either take some comfort in that...
i think i remember wondering if it was still there too...then eventually no more line or redness...and she has normal toes today :)
best of luck!
J.

This also happened to my firstborn when he was about 6 months old. My physician hubby removed the hair with a sterilized needle and a tweezers, since we did not have any Nair in the house. The advice Barb A gave you is right on the money...the easiest way to make sure it is alright is to see if the toe blanches (turns white when you press on it.) If it does, you should be in the clear.

Good luck and try not to worry too much.

This happened to my now 4 year old daughter. It really spooked me. I called the doctors office and they said to apply Nair to the area for the amount of time on the directions. After, her toe still seemed red and I was sure the hair must still be there. It wasn't. After a few days of watching it closely it returned to it's normal pudgy pink state.

I had the same thing happen to my daughter when she was about 3 months old. The hair was wrapped so tight around her toe we think it had been there for atleast a day or two before we saw it becasue she had been so cranky and that wasn't like her. We didn't have to take her in we finally got the hair off with tweezers and a maginifying glass. We didn't get it all at first but couldn't tell because it was so embedded in her toe. Either way the redline and indentation stayed for several days but it eventually went away and the color of her toe went back to normal. It was blue. We felt so bad for not finding it sooner. But she is fine and has her toe. Just make sure the hair is off.

This happened to me when my now 20 mos. old son was much younger. I had heard stories of "Toe Tourniquets" when I was pregnant from a couple of people. Since goofy things always seem to happen to me, I guess I occasionally checked my son's toes for any stray hairs wrapped around them. One day on the changing table I looked down at his feet & yep, one of my hairs was wrapped tightly around one of his toes! My husband was able to get it off. We don't know how long it was there, but it couldn't have been too long. Still, there was a red mark around his toe that took a couple of days to fade away. The hair had not been around his toe long enough to cause him lots of discomfort (That we could notice) and his toe was red, not blue or purple. Still, it did take at least a couple of days to completely fade. We did notice that the rest of the toe looked normal-except for the mark. I would be more worried if the toe didn't otherwise look normal or if your son was experiencing pain. Funny thing is that my pediatrician's office said they had never encountered anyone with this problem! Maybe your doctor's office hasn't seen this happen very often either?

Did the doctor look nervous when he said that he/she would send him to a surgeon. What is the age of your son who did this? I get more worried about eighteen months than four or seven. In any case with children all things are possible and it doesnt sound like case for worry Think of people with hickeys (I know silly huh?) but the hickeys dont go immediately away. The blood underneath sort of rises to the surface. So it might be the same with the toe. If he is in deep pain and not eating or sleeping and acting lethargic then go to the doctor again. I think it will be fine. By the way how would a hair get wrapped around a toe? Could it be thread from a sock or something? AT any rate just have him keep his foot out in the open for another day or so and depending on whose opinion you want I always put ice on those things. Others might tell you heat. Again call the doctor if you get more worried.

yes-this happened to my son's toe, and it was quite red for a few days. Knowing the hair is removed, at least you know that the circulation is no longer being cut off. There was not talk of surgery when my doctor looked at it however.

Hi J.,

Sorry to hear about your son, hopefully he is feeling better. This may sound silly but call your hairstylist, they hear everything hair related and she might have some good suggestions.

On a side note, I very interested to learn about you organic grass fed meat business, can you send me more info?

Thnks,
S.

This happened to my daughter when she was a few months old. SCARY!! I talked with a doctor after a few days and he said it's completely normal. The line stayed for weeks-weird, huh? But she's fine, a year later, you'd never know.

No need to see a surgeon or anything.

Toe hair tourniquet--try using Nair, if that doesn't work go to the ER--sometimes the skin can re-epithialize over the hair and it would need to be explored under anesthesia.
Good luck!