Loom bands 'inhalation danger' to young children

[Northerner]

Doctors are warning parents of the need to be vigilant after a spate of children with loom bands stuck up their noses.

Although medics can usually get them out, there is a real risk children could choke on them, the Journal of Laryngology and Otology reports.

The tiny colourful rubber bands, which can be woven to make bracelets, are one of this year's most popular toys.

Emergency doctors reported four cases at one hospital in a week.

The team at the Monklands hospital, in Scotland, urged parents to keep a careful eye on young children playing with loom bands.

They said an inhaled loom band or clip could prove fatal.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30582551

 

[Sally71]

When my daughter was about 2 she made a lovely picture at play group made out of dried peas, lentils etc. Brought it home proudly to show me, then proceeded to pull some of the bits off and shoved a dried pea up her nose! Well by the time we'd stopped panicking about what to do, had driven her to a local hospital and got seen, the pea had been sitting all nice and cosy in her nostril (nice warm and damp environment) for about two hours and was swelling up nicely 😱

It did come out again, but the way to clear a blockage from a child's nostril is to hold the clear nostril closed and then blow short, sharp breaths into the child's mouth, this will then blow the offending item out of the other nostril. But apparently the nurses are not allowed to be seen to be "kissing" a child so I had to do it! I have no medical training at all and as the parent told them I gave them full permission to do whatever was necessary, but they said rules were rules and they must not deviate from them. Which meant it took about 5 attempts to get the pea out because I was frightened of hurting my daughter and probably wasn't blowing hard enough. Honestly, how pathetic does it get sometimes, I'm sure 99.9% of parents would quite happily allow medical staff to do almost anything if it made their child better again!

Don't know if loom bands would come out by blowing though, perhaps it's a good job they weren't around then...