Washington DC [US], October 22 : Electronic hair styling products, such as curling irons, are a common cause of burn injuries in the home, particularly among young children, according to research presented at the 2023 AAP National Conference & Exhibition at the Walter E Washington Convention Centre, resulting in nearly 31,000 burns in children and young people between 2013 and 22.
The researchers who wrote the abstract, "Burn Injuries in Children from Hair Styling Tools Presenting to United States Emergency Departments, 2013-2022: Beauty is More Than Skin Deep," examined data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database on emergency department visits involving hair styling equipment for patients ages 24 and younger.
According to research, there were an anticipated 30,839 burn injuries from hair styling equipment and 1,050 emergency room visits between 2013 and 2022. Hair curlers and curling irons were responsible for 97.4 per cent of reported burn injuries.
"Hair styling tools are a timeless piece of our everyday routine, helping to create the picture-perfect look. Yet they have the greatest propensity to create a not-so-picture-perfect accident when not handled with care," said CPT Brandon L Rozanski, MD, lead author and pediatric resident at Tripler Army Medical Center.
"Electric hair styling tools can reach temperatures as high as 450oF in a matter of minutes, creating potential situations of unintentional burn injury for both the device user and surrounding bystanders."
Of those hospital emergency department encounters studied, 68 per cent of the injured subjects were age 10 or younger and 65.1 per cent were female. Almost three-quarters of these injuries occurred within the home, and 98.6 per cent did not require hospital stays or require any other escalation of care.
"This study demonstrated that children have the greatest propensity to present to the emergency department with burn injuries sustained from hair styling tools," CPT Rozanski said.
"Using this information, clinicians have a unique opportunity to provide targeted anticipatory guidance to educate families on the hazard surrounding everyday use of electric hair styling tools in addition to stressing age-appropriate use with and without parental supervision."
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