It’s a rare phenomenon but getting your hair washed at a salon can cause the risk of stroke in some persons. Dr Sudhir Kumar, a neurologist from Hyderabad, recently treated a woman with ‘Beauty Parlour Stroke Syndrome’. The 50-year-old woman experienced vomiting, dizziness, and nausea as soon as she had hair washed with shampoo at a beauty parlour and was initially taken to a gastroenterologist who treated her for these symptoms.
Speaking to TNM, Dr Sudhir Kumar said the woman had no improvement in her condition and felt a slight imbalance while walking the next day after which she was referred to him for treatment. The woman showed signs of mild cerebellar (dysfunction, imbalance, speech and visual problems).
On a Twitter thread, the doctor explained her medical condition: “MRI brain revealed infarct in right posterior inferior cerebellar territory, MR angiogram showed left vertebral hypoplasia.” A simple way of explaining this would be that the woman had a stroke in the Posterior Inferior Cerebellar Artery (PICA) area, which has one of the three vessels that provide arterial supply to the cerebellum and brainstem.
Beauty Parlor #Stroke Syndrome
— Dr Sudhir Kumar MD DM (@hyderabaddoctor) October 30, 2022
1. I recently saw a 50-year old woman with symptoms of dizziness, nausea & vomiting, which started during her hair wash with shampoo in a beauty parlor. Initially, she was taken to a gastroenterologist, who treated her symptomatically.#Medtwitter
Vertebro-basilar disease is a broad term for a condition where there is insufficient flow of blood through the vertebral or basilar arteries to the brain. Dr Sudhir Kumar said that in around 10-20% of people, one side of the artery connecting the cerebellum and brainstem might be thin which can lead to a stroke when the other side’s artery is compressed with any type of hyperextension of the neck. In this case, the woman’s left side artery was thin. So, when the woman’s neck was tilted to the right, the left artery got compressed due to hyperextension which led to the stroke, the doctor added.
“In my experience, I have seen 15 cases so far, out of which three had severe symptoms. This is not a new phenomenon. I have seen cases like this during my residency between 1999 and 2000 as well. Medical literature says that the first case was reported in 1993,” the doctor said, adding that the beauty parlour stroke syndrome is not common but not uncommon either.
‘Beauty Parlour Stroke Syndrome’ was first described by Michael Weintraub in 1993, in the journal of American Medical Association after observing stroke symptoms in two elderly women after shampoo treatment in a beauty parlour. Medically known as Vertebro-basialar insufficiency, the disorder is also referred to as Salon Sink Syndrome and the Salon Wash-basin Syndrome.
In 2016 The Guardian reported the story of compensation being paid to Dave Tyler, a man who collapsed two days after getting his haircut at a salon in Brighton, UK.
When asked what people can do to avoid such a stroke, Dr Sudhir Kumar said: “Women don’t have to stop going to parlours or washing their hair there! They can avoid keeping their necks in an awkward hyperextension. Or they can use a towel or for support instead of completely extending their necks. Sometimes these procedures can go on for 30 to 35 minutes, so that can be shortened.”
The doctor added that symptoms to look out for are nausea, dizziness and a wobbly walk, among other things. “If people experience such symptoms, particularly after a parlour visit, it would be advisable to visit a neurologist instead of another specialist. In neurological cases, timing is crucial,” he said.
“In a severe case that I had seen, the person had become unconscious and both their legs were paralysed. They required six months of ventilator support to recover to 70-80%. In extremely rare cases, people have died as well. Such cases are not common so people need not be afraid but it is good to be cautious,” Dr Sudhir said, adding that neck massages from untrained people can also cause this stroke.
Watch: The Chinmayi Show | Stalking and what it does to women | Parvathy Thiruvothu