It happens more often than you’d like to think, and most of us don’t know about it. Babies are losing toes, fingers and even worse. A newspaper report shows horrendous pictures of babies who are being strangled by hairs from other people.

It would seem that a hair couldn’t hurt anyone, but these pictures tell a very different story. The next time someone asks can long hair hurt your baby, send them these pictures:

A single strand of hair can wrap itself around a child’s toe, cutting off circulation and potentially leading to amputation because of a rare condition called ‘toe tourniquet syndrome.’ Affecting all appendages such as fingers, penises and ear lobes, the syndrome causes inflammation as the circulation is cut off and infections can develop as the hair cuts into the flesh as it tightens like cheese wire. – Daily Mirror

There’s something to be said for the long and beautiful hair of your significant other, but keeping that hair brushed out and properly disposed of could mean the difference between life and death.