Elsevier

Burns

Volume 34, Issue 4, June 2008, Pages 521-524
Burns

Electric hair straightener burns an epidemiological and thermodynamic study

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burns.2007.07.013Get rights and content

Abstract

Hair straighteners are a popular beauty product in the UK. An alarming rise in admissions to the Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery, for burns caused by hair straighteners has led to this study. A thermodynamic study was also performed to look at temperature range and cooling profiles of these devices.

Thirty-one cases were identified over a 32-month period, January 2003 to August 2006. Ninety-three percent (29 cases) were children with an average age of 4 years. The majority of burns were partial thickness to hands and feet, but 23% (seven cases) required admission and 10% (three cases) required surgical intervention.

The hair straighteners reached a maximum temperature of 145 °C within 2 min of activation and took up to 7 min to cool below a temperature that would burn adult skin with a 1 s contact.

Children and crawling babies are at particular risk from preventable burns from hair straighteners. The frequency of burns from hair straighteners is rising and even small burns to the hand can have serious sequelae and need to be treated in specialist centres. Health promotion and discussion with the industry is required to stop this new and increasing problem.

Introduction

Electrical hair straighteners are an increasingly popular beauty product in the United Kingdom. A single small case series of burns from hair straighteners [1] can be found in the literature, but there is no formal study into the incidence, nature and severity of burns caused by electrical hair straighteners (Fig. 1). An alarming rise in the incidence of these burns at this regional burn centre led to this formal epidemiologic and thermodynamic study. The Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery is a regional burns unit covering a population of 2.2 million and seeing approximately 850 new patients per year, including 325 paediatric cases.

Section snippets

Method

The electronic database at the Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery was searched for burns caused by contact with electrical hair straighteners over a 2-year 8-month period, between January 2003 and August 2006. Case notes were analysed and a questionnaire was sent to patients if the information was incomplete. Data was collected on patient demographics, circumstance, site, severity, and outcome of the burn. The database was also searched back to 1996 for burns caused by any electrical

Epidemiology

Thirty-one cases were identified over the 32-month period, 1.4% of the total admissions for that period. The incidence is rising and presently stands at over one new case per month. These burns seem to be a modern phenomenon with no hair straightener burns noted prior to 2003 (Fig. 2). Prior to 2003 there were a small number of burns from hair beauty appliances, predominantly curling tongs, however the rapid rise noted is solely due to the increase in electrical hair straighteners burns.

The

Clinical examples

Please see Figs. 7 and 8, Figs. 9 and 10.

Conclusions

Electrical hair straighteners are a common, preventable cause of contact burns, previously unreported in burn literature. The incidence presenting to our institution is rising and is a modern phenomenon with no cases recorded prior to 2003. The burns are predominantly in young children on their hands and feet. Although the majority are partial thickness burns requiring conservative management, burns to children under five and burns to hands or feet are both categories noted in the guidelines

Conflict of interest

None.

References (7)

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