Update: Kopp's original Facebook post has been removed, and, as Shape reports, the chances of contracting an infection so severe that draining is necessary are even slighter than we initially thought. Most dermatologists couldn't come up with any other time they've seen a case similar to Kopp's, and the fact that the type of bacteria in her wrist was also found in her mouth makes this an even more particular — and hopefully one-time — problem. Stay clean, don't panic, and never have a bad hair day.
This article was originally published on November 28, 2015.
Wearing hair ties around your wrist isn't just a questionable fashion choice — it could also land you in the emergency room. Kentucky resident Audree Kopp recently learned this lesson in a painful way after noticing a tender bump growing on her right wrist, which doubled as her off-duty hair tie holder. "It just kept getting bigger, and redder, and worse," Kopp told WLKY in Louisville, KY. Even antibiotics didn't diminish the spider bite-like mass. A later trip to the hospital resulted in an emergency surgery to drain the swelling abscess and revealed the likely culprit. Kopp's scratchy, glittery hair ties collected harmful pathogens in their fabric and transferred them to her blood stream by aggravating the surrounding skin and hair follicles, leading to three separate bacterial infections. Talk about suffering for fashion — and then some. "You can't put all these hair ties around the wrist, because it can cause problems with the skin," Kopp's orthopedic surgeon, Amit Gupta, told WLKY. "It can cause infection." Kopp told WLKY if she hadn't undergone emergency surgery to drain the swelling abscess, the hair ties could've been killers. Left untreated, the bacterial infection could've developed into sepsis, a life-threatening inflammatory response that can trigger organ failure. Doctors told CBS Philadelphia that hair ties should be worn loosely around the wrist and cleaned regularly. And as for glittery elastics, those probably aren't an attractive idea, whether in a ponytail or not.
Wearing hair ties around your wrist isn't just a questionable fashion choice — it could also land you in the emergency room. Kentucky resident Audree Kopp recently learned this lesson in a painful way after noticing a tender bump growing on her right wrist, which doubled as her off-duty hair tie holder. "It just kept getting bigger, and redder, and worse," Kopp told WLKY in Louisville, KY. Even antibiotics didn't diminish the spider bite-like mass. A later trip to the hospital resulted in an emergency surgery to drain the swelling abscess and revealed the likely culprit. Kopp's scratchy, glittery hair ties collected harmful pathogens in their fabric and transferred them to her blood stream by aggravating the surrounding skin and hair follicles, leading to three separate bacterial infections. Talk about suffering for fashion — and then some. "You can't put all these hair ties around the wrist, because it can cause problems with the skin," Kopp's orthopedic surgeon, Amit Gupta, told WLKY. "It can cause infection." Kopp told WLKY if she hadn't undergone emergency surgery to drain the swelling abscess, the hair ties could've been killers. Left untreated, the bacterial infection could've developed into sepsis, a life-threatening inflammatory response that can trigger organ failure. Doctors told CBS Philadelphia that hair ties should be worn loosely around the wrist and cleaned regularly. And as for glittery elastics, those probably aren't an attractive idea, whether in a ponytail or not.
these r pics before it got bad, imagine twice the size,and 10x more pain.
Posted by Audree Kopp on Saturday, November 14, 2015
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