Are you guilty of this?
Hair tie, gogo, bobbin, bobble, hair elastic, the possible names for them go on forever, and anyone who uses one can probably admit that they have worn them around their wrist.
Last year, a story of a woman who contracted a flesh-eating bacteria from wearing a hair tie on her wrist went viral. But did this story actually stop anyone from doing it? Do people still believe that this was just an exception or a once-off?
This isn’t the exception however, as dermatologists really don’t advise it.
Dermatologist Michele J. Farber spoke Allure about the reason it is so dangerous.
“A hair tie may cause a cut or an abrasion on your wrist after chronically rubbing on your wrist,”
“If the cut is deep enough, it can allow bacteria that normally live on the skin, or potentially dangerous pathogens such as MRSA or E. coli, to penetrate to deeper layers where they do not belong. The earliest sign is a painful pink bump, which can grow into an abscess.” She said.
If you can’t bear to keep them anywhere else, such a your pocket or a handbag, the Doctor advises that you wash the hair ties with antibacterial soap and replace them often. She also adds that you if you do wear them on your wrist, avoid tight ones and instead wear loose ones that won’t cut into the skin.
