Dr Amir Khan has issued a health warning after a woman was rushed to hospital following the use of a common beauty product. Appearing on today's (Friday, September 25) episode of ITV's Good Morning Britain, the NHS GP warned viewers about the infection risks associated with ingrown hair follicles and the "subtle" signs of sepsis.
It comes as a woman appeared on the show to share her health scare after using a beauty product millions use - a shaving razor. Christy Collins, a 28-year-old content creator, faced a life-threatening ordeal after what she thought was an ingrown hair turned out to be sepsis. She became so ill that she struggled to walk before being rushed into emergency surgery in the hospital. Doctors warned that waiting another day could have been life-threatening.
How the infection developed
Christy's ordeal began with an inflamed hair follicle caused by micro-abrasions from shaving her bikini line. This allowed common skin bacteria, specifically Staphylococcus aureus, to enter the body, leading to several complications. Christy suffered from cellulitis, which is a painful infection under the skin. She developed a deep, iceberg-like abscess that required emergency surgery, as it could not be treated with oral antibiotics alone.
Her condition progressed to sepsis, which Dr Khan describes not as the infection itself, but as the body's dangerous immune response to it. This reaction caused her blood vessels to widen and leak, leading to a severe drop in blood pressure and organ distress. Christy's blood pressure was so critically low that medical staff observed it was the type of level typically seen in much older patients.
Christy's account of her ordeal
Recalling how it all began, Christy said: "So, on the Saturday night, I got this like boil lump thing. Sunday morning, I didn't think anything of it. I jumped in the shower. It started to pus, I squeezed it. Bad idea. Really bad idea squeezing it because it just made it worse."
Explaining how the rest of her day went, Christy continued: "I went up to London. It was really hot. I was just with my mates and I lost my vision. I lost my hearing and I had to like grab my mate and be like, 'I need to sit down. I need chocolate bar. I need water. It's the heat. It must be the heat'."
By the following Tuesday, Christy said the doctors prescribed her antibiotics, which she says "didn't do anything". She says it got to the point where "it was really painful down there". She added: "I couldn't walk. I couldn't sit down. And then it was Thursday, my friend said, 'You're coming to the doctors. I'm taking you to A&E.' And then as soon as I got to A&E, rushed straight through."
Dr Khan's medical explanation
Describing the abscess, Christy said: "It was like a little boil, like I'd say gumball size... and then it just got so big... it went from my bikini line around my bum, it was that big." Christy says she is recovering well after having emergency surgery. She says her nurse has advised her to use hair removal cream or try laser hair treatment, as well as exfoliate.
Dr Amir Khan explained that while it is uncommon for a simple hair follicle infection to lead to sepsis, shaving can increase the risk because it causes micro-abrasions, or tiny cuts, in the skin. These tiny nicks in the skin, often invisible, compromise the skin's role as the first line of defence against infections. When a hair follicle becomes inflamed, the surrounding skin softens, allowing bacteria that naturally live on the skin, such as Staphylococcus aureus, to enter the body and cause deeper infections like cellulitis.
Dr Amir Khan also claimed that the pressure to adhere to certain beauty standards can put women at risk of these types of health complications. He said: "So sepsis can come from any infection, but it is important to say it's uncommon to get it from an infected hair follicle or an inflamed hair follicle. What shaving around any hairy area can do is cause something called microabrasions or tiny cuts in the skin."
He added: "The skin is our first line barrier against a lot of infections. And those tiny cuts or nicks in our skin. We don't often see them. If the hair follicle gets inflamed, that softens the skin around that area as well. And bacteria that normally live in our skin, particularly one called Staphylococcus aureus, can get into and underneath the skin and cause an infection under the skin because [Christy] had cellulitis, which is an infection under the skin."
He continued: "And then this big abscess. What's really interesting here is the area in which Christine had her abscess. We call it a periodontal abscess. It's very different to a normal abscess because it's often a bit like an iceberg. You see the tip of it, but underneath it goes very, very deep. And it always requires surgery. We can't treat that with oral antibiotics."
Sepsis symptoms and warning
The NHS says sepsis is a serious reaction to an infection that can be life-threatening. It develops very quickly and needs urgent treatment in hospital. Sharing a health warning about sepsis, Dr Amir Khan said: "The thing about sepsis is it can be very subtle. You don't have to have a high fever. It could be confusion. It could be things like visual loss, but it could just be muscle aches or just feeling generally unwell. It's very, very subtle symptoms. And sepsis itself isn't the overwhelming infection. It's your immune system's wrong response to that infection."
He explained: "So your immune system over responds, and starts releasing lots of chemicals into the bloodstream, which causes your blood vessels to get wider. The blood vessels become very leaky. The fluid leaks out. So your blood pressure then drops. So your vital organs aren't getting that blood and oxygen they need. Your clotting system goes off as well. So you start producing tiny little clots everywhere which further blocks those blood vessels and that can cause organ damage."
The symptoms of sepsis in adults include confusion or slurred speech, uncontrollable shivering, muscle pain, difficulty breathing, blue, pale, grey or blotchy skin, lips or tongue - on black or brown skin this may be easier to see on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet - a high or low temperature, with a high temperature less common in older adults, and not peeing all day or peeing very little in the past 18 hours.
