Various sources are currently reporting the main reason why people should avoid wearing the bands they use to tie their hair around their wrists.
According to reports, doing so could lead to a serious infection, which is exactly what happened to a woman in Kentucky, People reported.
Earlier in November, Audree Kopp of Lousiville, Kentucky, noticed a huge bump on her skin. She then immediately took antibiotics as prescribed by a doctor but the bump continued to grow.
Due to the worsening condition of the bump, her doctor, Dr. Amit Gupta of the Norton Healthcare recommended surgery. According to the medical professional, the bump was caused by an infection.
"She had a large abscess on the back of her writs, so I basically made an incision and drained the puss all the way down," he said according to WLKY.
The doctor then explained that the infection was caused by the hair tie Kopp wore on her wrist. The bacteria from this band could have entered her skin through hair follicles and pores. This then led to three types of infection.
The poly negative, staph and strep infections could not be treated by simply using antibiotics which is why Dr. Gupta recommended surgery, according to Insight Ticker.
"I didn't believe it at first, I thought it was a spider bite, or something else, not from wearing hair-ties," Kopp told WLKY.
"It could have been a whole different ballgame, once it gets into your bloodstream, people have been known to go into a coma, your body shuts down and it could have been way worse," she added.
Aside from getting under the skin through the pores, the bacteria from hair ties can also cause an infection by entering through an opening such as a wound.
Due to what happened to Kopp, Dr. Gupta strongly advises against wearing hair ties on the wrist. If people are not using them or have a spare one, they should just keep it inside their pockets to avoid any direct contact with the skin.
"Be careful, you can't put all these hair ties around the wrist particularly because it can cause problems with the skin, it can cause infection," he said.
Kopp's ordeal can be regarded as a cautionary tale for women since they are usually the ones who use bands for their long hairs. But with the popularity of man buns and the growing number of males who simply just refuse to get a haircut, men should also avoid wearing hair ties around their wrists.
