Photo Credit: WLKY
A Kentucky woman is trying to get the word out about a grotesque, potentially life-threatening infection from wearing a glittery hair tie on her wrist. Audree Kopp, from Louisville, Kentucky, wrote on Facebook that while wearing her hair tie on her wrist, as many women do, it “rubbed a tiny scratch on my wrist, and the bacteria from the tie jumped in… causing a life threatening bacterial infection.”
Photo Credit: WLKY
The infection started out as a lump on her wrist. Kopp says that her doctor gave her an antibiotic and told her it was “no big deal.” However, that small lump soon turned into a quarter-sized one, and it was so painful that she went to the ER, where she was rushed to another hospital and into surgery.
Photo Credit: WLKY
Kopp’s arm was reportedly infected with three different types of bacteria and narrowly avoided sepsis, or blood poisoning. The infection itself is graphic and may be uncomfortable to some readers. Click here to see photos from BuzzFeed of the infection.
Dr. Amit Gupta of Norton Healthcare said the bacteria from Kopp’s hair tie likely got under her skin through her pores and hair follicles, causing the nasty infection.
“It could have been a whole different ball game,” said Kopp. “Once it gets into your bloodstream, people have been known to go into a coma, your body shuts down. It could have been worse.”
Kopp wants people to know that the glittery hair band is to blame for the infection, rather than no-slip plastic ones. If you do decide to wear your hair tie on your wrist, Kopp’s doctors recommend washing the hair tie and your arm when you wash your hands.
Photo Credit: WLKY