Why You Should Never, Ever Wear a Hair Tie on Your Wrist

The infection was caused by a small cut made by her glitter hair tie. | Shutterstock.

I am guilty of forever walking around with a hair tie on my wrist. Recently, I’ve tried curbing that habit after being informed by my mom that it “makes you look sloppy.” Say no more! However, today’s story of a Kentucky woman’s life-threatening infection caused by her hair tie has sealed the deal for me. The hair tie stays in my purse.

According to this article, Audree Kopp underwent surgery on an infection in her arm caused by her glittery hair tie. Kopp first noticed the infection when a bump appeared at the back of her wrist; she initially thought it was a spider bite. Antibiotics could not stop the growing infection, and the abscess had to be surgically drained of fluids. It was determined that the glitter hair tie caused three types of bacteria – strep, staph and poly negative – to enter her system.

“Be careful,” her surgeon Dr. Amit Gupta warns. “You can’t put all these hair ties around the wrist particularly because it can cause problems to the skin, it can cause infection.”

Had the doctors not treated the area so quickly, Kopp could have suffered serious complications. “Once it gets into your bloodstream, people have been known to go into a coma, your body shuts down,” she shared. The convenience of a hair tie on hand at all times isn’t worth the risk. Let’s all be safe (and un-sloppy) and stash the hair ties somewhere more discreet.