Why you should never wear a hair band around your wrist

One woman suffered a nasty infection from wearing her hair tie for too long

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People are being urged to avoid wearing a hair band around their wrist, especially when going to sleep at night. For many girls - and some men - keeping a hair tie around their wrist is convenient should they ever need to tie up their hair as it is readily accessible for them to use whenever.

However, there are dangers with keeping a hair bobble around your wrist if you leave it on for a long period of time - including when going to bed. Besides potentially restricting blood flow due to the tightness of the band around your wrist for such a long time and it rolling further up your arm, there is also a risk of infection from cuts if you wear glittery or decorative bobbles.

This was the case for Kentucky resident, Audree Kopp, who suffered a nasty infection from wearing her hair tie. While spending hours moving into her new home, Kopp didn't think much about the glittery hair band she was wearing until she spotted a large and painful bump forming.

The rough coating of the hair tie had rubbed against her skin that much, it had caused an abrasion and allowed bacteria into her cuts. When antibiotics didn't appear to treat her swelling, she was taken to a hospital where doctors performed surgery to drain the fluid from the abscess.

Although this tale acts as a word of warning for anyone who regularly keeps a hair tie around their wrist, there's no need to throw yours away. Instead, just be more mindful about taking it off and only having it on if you really need to and for short amounts of time.

At the time, Dr. Amit Gupta, one of the medical team who worked with Kopp issued a warning. "Be careful, you can’t put all these hair ties around wrists, they can cause problems with the skin, with infections," he said. Below is a look at ways to wear hair ties safely.

Anything that restricts blood flow to the hands and fingers can result in vascular problems - like pins and needles - and a breakdown of the skin. It is best to steer clear of any hair ties, watches and other jewellery that cling tightly to the skin.

You can check this by seeing if your finger can fit underneath. If so, you're probably okay.

While this may look good in your hair, it can rub against the skin and lead to tiny cuts. This can then make it a lot easier for bacteria to get into your skin. Although such germs could be harmless, if not careful, it can possibly result in an infection.

When keeping a hair band around your wrist for a long period of time, it can be easy to forget it is even there. But it is important to remember to take it off before going to bed. If left on for too long, it can compress blood flow to the skin and trap of bacteria under it.

If you use the same hair tie day in and day out, just like any other piece of clothing worn too many times, it can collect bacteria and dirt. To avoid bacteria flourishing and your skin from getting dirty, consider washing your hair ties or wearing clean ones.