Woman's Braids Land Her in Emergency Room

by Dana Oliver (Subscribe to Dana Oliver's posts)
Posted Jul 14th 2010 at 2:45PM

Are your braids too tight? Photo: Peter Forest, Getty Images

The old adage that "beauty is pain" became a little too true for a North Carolina woman whose braided hairstyle resulted in her making multiple trips to the emergency room.

A few weeks after getting her hair braided at a salon, Veronica Carter started to experience excruciating pain.

"I got up and I was crying in the middle of the night and I was praying and crying like God please don't let me die," Carter told WFMY News 2. "The braid came out and it was like a little white bump. The headaches became just on one side and it was migraines and it was like a heat sensation."

With a swollen face and closed eye, Carter visited the emergency room on two occasions and on the second trip she was handed over medical documentation that stated she may be suffering from a hard-to-treat bacterial infection known as MRSA, or Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

"He told me it's because the braids was too tight," said Carter, on her medical consultation. "He said her nails, anything up under the nail, if her nails was sharp or if she took it and tried to braid it and maybe cut me right here and I didn't notice it."

Celebrity hair stylist Kimberly Kimble -- who maintains the manes of stars like Beyoncé, Kerry Washington, and Shakira -- says that the number one thing to look out for is that the process should not hurt.

"Getting your hair braided should not be painful, before, during or after," Kimble tells StyleList. "If your braids are pulling from the scalp or if you can see the bulbs coming out of the end of the hair shaft, it's pulling your hair out and is too tight."

To prep your strands for this hairstyle, Kimble advises that you go in to your salon with clean and freshly washed hair. "It should also be very hydrated prior to getting braids by using hot oil or moisturizing treatments like Kimble Hair Care Systems Honey and Oatmeal Moisturizing Treatment."

Maintain your braided hairstyle by sleeping in a silk bonnet and on a silk pillowcase, as cotton fibers can dry out the hair, she adds.

To prevent this hair-raising matter from occurring in the future, the North Carolina Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners are backing new state regulation made effective on July 1, 2010 that requires natural hair care stylists to pass both a practical and written exam before becoming licensed.

"It is a strong and appropriate examination in the interest of protecting the consumer in regards to stylists and cleanliness," Executive Director Lynda Elliott tells StyleList. "A lot of the confusion is that [hairstylists] must get their cosmetology license but this pertains specifically to licensing in natural hair care."

And for natural hair care stylists who have been braiding, cornrowing and twisting prior to July 1, Elliott urges you to take the exam within a year or face returning back to beauty school for 300 hours before getting your license.

While an employee of the salon reportedly told WFMY News 2 that Carter should have returned sooner with her complaint, having her hair restyled isn't just going to cut it.

"This right here is going to be a mark for the rest of my life, this scar. My hair is not going to grow back."

In other hair news, head over to our sister site BlackVoices to learn about a New Jersey man who is behind bars after forcing at least 20 women to work without pay in hair braiding salons.

Read All Comments

Style Around the Web

ImaxTree

Make Up Tips For Girls With Glasses - Refinery29
How Celebs Work Red Into Their Wardrobe - FabSugar
Celebrity Wardrobe Malfunctions - The Daily Beast
Deodorants that Actually Work - Daily Candy
Would You Wear Long-Sleeve Shirts As Skirts? - The Frisky
Tricks That Guarantee Gorgeous Hair - Daily Makeover
Celebs Have Us Seeing Stars - People Style Watch

READER COMMENTS

(47)Add A Comment

lisha, 7-15-2010, 6:29AM

What are you trying to say here, this is the worst wrote article yet!!! A 5th grader could do better!

Reply »

MartiOwl, 7-15-2010, 2:12PM

What you must be referring to are quotes from the women in the article. And, I must say your grammar is no better than her's!!

lak114, 7-15-2010, 7:07AM

Who the hell wrote this article? A trip back to journalism basics may be warranted.Wow!

Reply »

MartiOwl, 7-15-2010, 2:21PM

Evidently you weren't paying attention either. The bad grammar in the article were quotes from the women it was about! At least the grammar in your comment was correct.

Ralph DeMattia, 7-15-2010, 7:51AM

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Reply »

joe, 7-15-2010, 8:36AM

you right!

burntbronz, 7-15-2010, 2:18PM

this article was written very poorly...even if the girl's statement was ver batum....

Reply »

ennui, 7-15-2010, 8:01AM

THE WEARING OF FAKE BRAIDS, THE WHITE WIGS, THE CHEMICALS AND ALL THE REST, ARE SYMBOLS OF BLACK SELF HATRED.....THE PATHETIC NEED TO COVER ONE'S NATURAL HAIR IS SEEN EVERYWHERE IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY...THE PAIN OF WEARING FAKE "HAIR" IS NOT AS GREAT AS THE PSYCHIC PAIN OF HAVING TO BE SOMETHING YOU ARE NOT BECAUSE YOU THINK THE OTHER IS BETTER.

Reply »

Maradebe, 7-15-2010, 9:18AM

@ennui...couldn't agree more. The otherness that was the subject of WEB DuBois' "double consciousness" ... It's time to ask ourselves: Who do we see in the mirror? A new social movement is needed; one that will reject and refute postmodernism. Whaaa?

katrina, 7-15-2010, 10:07AM

@ennui
I do not perm my hair because of self hatred. I just find it easier to manage. You can call me lazy for perming my hair to make brushing and combing easier, but don't accuse me of having "physic pain" due to a personal choice. Are their women of color who do have self-esteem issues? Yes, I won't deny that. Just don't lump every single woman with permed hair or weaves together. You do not know what I think as an individual.

blessed1, 7-15-2010, 2:00PM

Not the point of wanting fake hair to fit a complex. I braid my hair to go on vacation to get in the water. or to give my hair a rest from being washed and treated every one to two weeks. Black women don't have the strand of hair as all other people who can wash their hair everyday.
And so what women want to braid their hair. They have the right to do whatever they want with their hair/body. If they feel it improves their look then so be it. R they wrong for wanting a change in hair style? If that's the case then its wrong for non dark skinned people to get burned by the sun because they want a sun tan. Or its wrong for women with small breast to get implants to attain huge breast as many black women have originally. Have u thought about those issues? You should just tell people to be careful about who does their hair and the environment in which its done, not badger them or assume they are unhappy with themselves and b/c of that they deserve what they get or the pain they go through???? That's not right.

I LOVE MY BRAIDS!!!!!, 7-20-2010, 1:24PM

I am sorry I do not agree with your comment. So you are trying to say that people (notice I said people because I have seen plenty of braids with fake hair in the Caucasian community recently) that where braids in their hair are pathetic. What about the people that want their hair braided in different styles and cant get their natural hair braided the way they want it because their hair is to short. So they are basically repping symbols of black self hatred? (Are the Caucasians doing the same?) My daughter cut a plug out of her hair and I started braiding it up and it helped it to grow. Was I suppose to just let her walk around with a bald patch in her hair until it finally grew and caught up with the rest of her hair by itself?

Everyone has their opinion about different hairstyles and how they feel about them. I thought black was beautiful irregardless of what they decide to do to their hair. I could be wrong but it seems to me you are saying that black is beautiful as long as you have your hair natural. Have you ever heard of individualism. People like to be different and whats good for the gander isn't always good for the goose. So just because you believe in natural that is wonderful, natural is very beautiful, but don't bring everyone down just cause they don't agree with your choice.

Sincerely,

A bald headed girl that just wants her hair to grow!

Shandra, 7-15-2010, 9:56AM

I can't believe this article brushed over the part where she has MRSA and goes on to talk about hair PRODUCTS! MRSA is a SERIOUS infection. The article should have discussed it's treatment and future consequences instead of promoting products. This woman could end up bald for life because of this infection. Leave your natural beautiful hair ALONE! Then you'll never have to worry about MRSA or any other bacterial infection.

Reply »

Leonie Cultice, 7-15-2010, 3:46PM

Just like the other person say, i don't relax my hair because i don't like who i am, i do because it makes it much easier for me to comb and brush and not end up with a headach. Wearing a wig sometimes makes it much easier for you when you have to get to work or anywhere on a hurry. I love me for me and would never change who i am, my hair does not define who i am and how i feel about myself.Either i perm my hair, wear a wig or have it natural, i was born a queen and will always be one no matter what i do to my hair.

Chrissy Q, 7-15-2010, 10:21AM

so the wearing of fake braids, wigs, chemicals to color treat and relax hair...are symbols of black self-hatred? the need to cover one's natural hair is seen in the black community? are we kidding here??? first of all, what is wrong with trying to improve your looks, or change a hairstyle, or do something fun! it's a "woman" thing, NOT a "color" thing! second of all, have you noticed the WHITE community? we must really hate ourselves, man, because we use tons and tons AND tons of make-ups, hair dyes, wigs, self-enhancement products, fake fake fake! we don't even look like ourselves after awhile! wow, black self-hatred? then stop drooling over all the "white" girls who don't even look real most the time! what are THEY trying to look like? these comments are hysterical.

Reply »

Angiebaby, 7-15-2010, 10:27AM

Somebody done knocked the hell out of her and tried to snatch her bald, and she's fixing to try and get some free money out of this hair salon. Good for them in saying "No freebies, Sister!" I mean, you done accused ME of half-killing you and then you think I'm fixing to fool with you again? B*tch, please!

Reply »

r, 7-15-2010, 11:03AM

so the wearing of fake braids, wigs, chemicals to color treat and relax hair...are symbols of black self-hatred?
Its a woman thing called vainity

Reply »

tana green, 7-15-2010, 12:39PM

Not just a woman thing. You so old timer.

Julai, 7-15-2010, 12:02PM

I hope that she knows that she is lucky to be alive but still may have problems in the future. I also hope that she has her hair styled in a more natural look. Between the "potions" and such used when the braids are done no wonder there was an infection. I had Staph A and it almost killed me, now 10 years later I still have to watch any cut or possibility of infection and head out to the ER if needed, before I get sick.

Reply »

Pat, 7-15-2010, 12:26PM

I doubt that black women perm their hair because of self hatred. Just like I don't think the majority of white women who tan, color their hair blond and plump up their lips and but do it because they want to look black. Get over yourselves!

Reply »

| 1 | 2 | 3 | Most Recent | Next 20 Comments

ADD A COMMENT