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Neck Swells And Face Bloats As Allergic Reaction To Hair Dye

by Gopalan on Jun 18 2009 11:26 AM

A 38-year-old British woman underwent some traumatic times consequent on using a hair dye. She has since recovered after a course of steroids and antihistamines, but the experience has left her shaken. She is also appealing to other women through the media to take all necessary precautions before dyeing their hair.

Paula Pratt a, a production manager, dyed her hair on June 7 to cover up a few stray grey hairs.

She applied £5 Clairol 'Nice n' Easy' permanent dye to turn her greying hair a chocolate brown.

She went to work as usual the following day, but that evening her head, face and neck began swelling up like a balloon.

Her eyes closed, her scalp stretched and began to weep, and her throat swelled making it difficult to breathe.

She said: "I did everything it said on the tin and had no reaction to the 48 hour test, so my sister went ahead and dyed my hair for me.

"The next day my face was so bad both eyes were completely swollen shut and you couldn't see my eyelashes. I looked like a sumo wrestler or the elephant woman.

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"The swelling started travelling down my throat as well and it was hard to breathe normally.

"The worst bit was when my scalp started to weep."

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Paula contacted her local doctor who was so worried about her health that he referred her to St Richard's Hospital in Chichester for treatment.

She was given a seven-day course of steroids and antihistamines, and has now made a full recovery.

Despite the side-effects she suffered, Paula said she is not seeking compensation from Clairol.

She is now seeking advice from dermatologists to determine which ingredient in the dye caused the reaction.

But she urged other women to check for signs of an allergy before dying their hair.

She added: "I just want to make people aware of the reactions you can get to hair dyes. They're not always as safe as people think.

"My doctor told me I cannot dye my hair ever again and I don't really want to anyway. It's put me off for life - I'd rather go grey than have that happen again."

Clairol said reactions like Paula's were rare and that safety was a priority for the company, Telegraph reported. 

A spokeswoman said: "We are very sorry to hear about Ms. Paula Pratt's experience after using a Clairol product.

"Allergic reactions are very rare, however, we do recommend that all consumers conduct a 48 hour allergy test before each and every use of our colourant products."

Source-Medindia
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