Electric Combs
Twenty years of CPSC NEISS emergency-room records for this consumer product category, combined with demographic breakdowns, multi-year injury trends, and matching recall notices.
Personal Care & Safety Products · CPSC Code 1637
No trend data
The verdict
Electric Combs carry a danger score of 32/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 59 ER-treated injuries a year that are stable over the most recent five-year window.
- 32/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 59
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 19.0%
- end in hospital admission
- 0-4
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1637 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 32/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for electric combs - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume59 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)19.0%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trendN/A
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Electric Combs (CPSC product code 1637, in the Personal Care & Safety Products category) generate an estimated 59 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 652 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 32/100 for this category (low risk), combining raw injury volume, demographic reach, severity of outcome, and multi-year trend. The five-year trajectory shows that injury counts are stable over the most recent five-year window, with the busiest year on record being 2009 (122 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2008 (7 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for electric combs is burns, thermal to the upper trunk, accounting for approximately 155 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by burns, thermal to the neck (88 cases). The 0-4 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 170 cases over the NEISS window, and females appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 19.0% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 2 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 17 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how electric combs fail in real households. Every figure on this page comes from CPSC-published data: NEISS projects national estimates from a probability sample of about 100 U.S. hospital emergency departments, while SaferProducts.gov collects voluntary reports from consumers, manufacturers, and clinicians. The danger score, trend indicators, and demographic breakdowns update automatically when CPSC releases a new yearly NEISS file, which is why this page is dated 2024-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2024)
Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only
Who Gets Injured?
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-4 | 80 | 90 | |
| 5-14 | 0 | 93 | |
| 15-24 | 0 | 144 | |
| 25-34 | 0 | 131 | |
| 55-64 | 0 | 78 | |
| 75+ | 0 | 40 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Upper Trunk | Burns, Thermal | |
| Neck | Burns, Thermal | |
| Eyeball | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Upper Leg | Burns, Thermal | |
| Face | Burns, Thermal | |
| Foot | Burns, Thermal | |
| Eyeball | Burns, Thermal | |
| Hand | Burns, Thermal | |
| Elbow | Burns, Thermal | |
| Lower Leg | Burns, Thermal | |
| Lower Arm | Burns, Thermal | |
| Mouth | Burns, Thermal |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
15MOM WAS BROUGHT INTO ED FOR BURN, MOM WAS STRAIGHTENING HER HAIR WITH HOT COMB WHEN PT PULLED IT DOWN ONTO HIM, IT LANDED ON SHOULDER AND TURNED HEAD TOWARD COMB, CAUSING THE COMB TO BE TRAPPED BETWEEN CHIN AND STERNUM, DX BURN NECK, SHOULDER, ARM
34YOF COMPLAINED OF BURNING UPPER LEG WITH A HOT COMB DX THERMAL BURN UPPER LEG
12MOM BURNED LEFT THIGH POSSIBLY WHEN CRAWLING BY A HOT COMB THAT WAS PLUGGED IN. DX: BURN OF THIGH.
59YOF, WAS DOING HER HAIR WHEN A PRESSING COMB BROKE AND BURNED HER BACK 5 DAYS PTADX: BURN TO BACK
15YOF PT FRIEND WAS COMBING ANOTHER FRIENDS HAIR WITH A HOT ELECTRIC COMB AND PT WALKED BY AND WAS BURNED ON HER L EYE BY THE COMB. DX L EYE BURN
17 MOM WITH BURNS ON FOREARM 4 YR OLD COUSIN PLUGGED IN FLAT IRON ANDWAS TRYING TO PINCH PT WITH IT DX 1ST DEGREE BURN TO FOREARM
15 YOF 2ND DEGREE THERMAL BURN TO FOREHEAD & RT. WRIST -REPORTS HAIR OIL CAUGHT FIRE IN HAIR S/P CURLING HAIR W/ A HOT COMB.*
16 Y/O F BURNED WHILE USING A HOTCOMBBURN UPPER BACK
PT.INJ.L.FOOT AT HOME WHEN STEPPED ON HOT ELECTRIC HAIR STRAIGHTENER.DX; 2 ND.DEG. BURN L.FOOT.
PT PRESENTS W/BURN TO R NECK FROM 2 DAYS AGO. PT STATES SHE BURNED HERNECK W/HOT COMB USED TO STRAIGHTEN HAIR. DX. BURN R NECK.
HISP FEMALE PULLED CORD OF A HOT HAIR STRAIGHTNER & BURNED L ARMDX BURN2ND DEGREE - PARTIAL THICKNESS - L ELBOW
BURNED ON LEG WITH A HOT COMB. DX 2ND DEGREE BURN
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
I purchased a Hot Beauty professional pressing come from Beautix Beauty supply on 11/26/2024. Upon first use, it burned my hair. It also completely scorched the towel I was using to rest it on. This product stares temps get up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit but there is no way to control the temperature. 500 degrees is far too high for any hair type.
This is a new device that has been used twice. I was brushing my daughters hair and she said that she was shocked. I looked at the device and under the brush between the handle a spark came out. The device tripped the breaker. I do not want to plug this back in or use it due to potentially bodily harm. I called the 800 number and 0 goes nowhere. 1-800-965-0302 I emailed the company at customercare@procabello.com and the email was returned. The website procabello.com is still up. They have a mailing address of 5111 West Knox Street, Tampa, FL 33614
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to electric combs on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are electric combs?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, electric combs have a danger score of 32/100 (low risk). An estimated 59 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from electric combs?
The most common injury is burns, thermal to the upper trunk, accounting for approximately 155 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from electric combs increasing or decreasing?
No trend data.
Who is most at risk for electric combs injuries?
The 0-4 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 170 cases recorded over 20 years. Females are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by electric combs?
Of all ER visits involving electric combs, approximately 19.0% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (81.0%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with electric combs?
You can file a consumer incident report at SaferProducts.gov, the official CPSC reporting portal. Reports help the CPSC identify emerging hazards and trigger investigations or recalls. You can also call the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-2772.
Related Products in Personal Care & Safety Products
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 32/100 score as relative risk between products, not your personal odds of injury.
- See where this category ranks against every other tracked product. Full rankings
- Injuries cluster in the 0-4 age group, take extra care if that describes your household.
- Check for active recalls on this product before you assume it is safe. CPSC recalls
NEISS estimates ER-treated injuries from a national probability sample of hospitals; they do not capture injuries treated elsewhere or not treated at all.
Data: CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments. This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, scored, and verified.
