Hair Wash At Beauty Parlour Could Give You A Stroke; Find Out How?

New Delhi: A hair wash at a beauty parlour can turn fatal for you if you are not lucky. Scores of men and women often prefer to get a routine hair wash at the salon because it is relaxing. A hair wash is also mandatory before a haircut and after any kind of hair treatment, such as a hair spa, hair colour etc. There’s something that everyone needs to know about a hair wash in a beauty parlour.

A woman in Hyderabad recently suffered what doctors call the “beauty parlour stroke syndrome.” Her trip to the beauty salon left an indelible mark on her health as she suffered a stroke while getting her hair washed before a haircut, according to a report.

It further quoted The Guardian to report that a case like this has surfaced before. In 1993, the term, beauty parlour stroke syndrome was coined in the Journal of the American Medical Association by Dr Michael Weintraub after he witnessed five women developing serious neurological symptoms following a hair wash at beauty salons. They complained of severe dizziness, loss of balance and facial numbness. Four out of five suffered strokes.

Doctors who treated the 50-year-old woman from Hyderabad told The Times of India that a key vessel supplying blood to the brain was pressed when she bent back her neck for the wash, causing a stroke.

Dr Praveen Kumar Yada, consultant neurologist at KMS Secunderabad, who has handled multiple stroke cases over the years told TOI, “It happens when the masseur presses down on the neck and head hard, at times even twists the neck to produce a cracking sound. This leads to tender vessels getting injured.” The woman, like many stroke patients, has been put on medication for life.

“There are two major arteries in the neck, two in the front and two in the back. The back arteries are known as vertebral arteries and these pass through the cervical vertebrae or cervical bone. Whenever there’s a neck manipulation like a beauty parlour procedure or an activity that is chiropractic in nature, this could cause a tear in the arteries and a clot begins to form. Due to this clot, the blood supply to the brain is interrupted and this can lead to a stroke,” Dr Jyoti Bala Sharma, Director of Neurology, at Fortis Hospital, Noida was quoted as saying.

According to Dr Sharma, a stroke occurs when the blood supply to the brain gets interrupted. However, in beauty parlour stroke syndrome, there’s a pre-existing symptom that triggers it. “In this kind of stroke, usually there’s a pre-existing disease in the artery which is known as atherosclerosis. This is a deposit in the wall of the arteries when they are weak. Normal arteries, even if they are pressed hard, will not get injured until and unless the pressure is too much,” said Dr Sharma, adding that such strokes are seen in young people, especially those who experience an unaccustomed neck movement like a person who is suddenly dancing. This activity can trigger injury to the artery and cause a tear in the wall, resulting in a stroke.