Information On Rare Syndrome Goes Viral With Post Of Baby's Toe

This dad's photo of his daughter is spreading awareness for a very rare illness known as hair tourniquet syndrome.

Thirty-two-year-old Scott Walker of Wichita, Kansas, posted a picture of his infant daughter, Molly's, foot after he found a strand of hair wrapped very tightly around one of her baby toes, according to ABC News.

"Had a small scare this afternoon with Ms. Molly," Walker wrote in the caption. "What happened was new to me, but apparently not totally uncommon, so I figured I'd share with my fellow parents out there."

According to Walker, his daughter was very cranky one day and screaming out of the ordinary. Then, the baby started to overheat and her mother took her socks off to help her cool down--noticing that something was wrong with the 5-month-olds' toe.

Fortunately, Molly's mom, Jessica, is a nurse, and she sprang right into action at the sign of the problem by removing the hair

"Unfortunately, the hair managed to cut all the way through Molly's skin, completely around her toe, but it could have been worse had it gone much longer untreated, or if the hair wasn't accessible," Walker said, via The Huffington Post.

Hair tourniquet syndrome is known to affect infants if a a piece of hair or thread wraps around the body very tightly, constricting the normal blood amount of blood flow. Infants under 4 are most at risk as this is the time when mothers are losing hair from hormonal changes. Though the issue can occur anywhere on the body, it most often occurs on a finger or toe. However, in more rare cases, it could occur on the penis, scrotum, labia, wrist, or ankle, and in severe cases, a hair tourniquet can lead to infection or tissue death.

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