A recent trip to the salon nearly killed a 50-year-old woman from Hyderabad, who suffered a stroke while having her hair washed before getting a haircut, Times of India (TOI) reported.
Doctors treating her reported that when she bent back her neck for the wash, a vital vessel providing blood to the brain was squeezed, resulting in the stroke.
Typical symptoms include dizziness, nausea, and vomiting, among others. When the 50-year-old woman noticed these symptoms, as well as abnormalities in her body, she went to see a gastroenterologist. After the doctor determined that she had no stomach difficulties, she was transferred to a neurologist.
Dr Sudhir Kumar, the doctor who treated the woman, posted on Twitter, “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.”
Beauty Parlor #Stroke Syndrome
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
— Dr Sudhir Kumar MD DM🇮🇳 (@hyderabaddoctor) October 30, 2022
The doctor explained the stroke in a series of Tweets.
“Massage and hair wash in parlour can be taken. Make sure not to extend the neck backwards, if neck has to be extended, do it no more than 20 degrees, and support with a towel,” he stated in the tweet.
Explaining the consequences of extending the neck during massage beyong 20 degrees, he tweeted, “Avoid hyper-extension of neck. If neck needs to be extended, do it maximum 20 degrees. The risk is higher in older people, but younger ones can also suffer.”
Avoid hyper-extension of neck. If neck needs to be extended, do it maximum 20 degrees. The risk is higher in older people, but younger ones can also suffer.
— Dr Sudhir Kumar MD DM🇮🇳 (@hyderabaddoctor) October 31, 2022
In fact, such health crises – dubbed “beauty parlour stroke syndrome” after being first recorded in the United States in 1993 – have been documented in the past as well, according to local doctors, who add that comparable occurrences are common among men strolling into salons for a neck massage.
“It occurs when the masseur applies firm pressure to the neck and head, often twisting the neck to produce a cracking sound. This causes vulnerable vessels to be harmed, resulting in a stroke,” Dr Praveen Kumar Yada, consultant neurologist at KIMS, Secunderabad, who has handled numerous such patients in the past, agreed, TOI reported.
Dr. Sudhir Kumar commented on the syndrome’s therapy, “Take-home message: Strokes in the vertebro-basilar artery territory can occur during shampoo hair-washing at a beauty salon, particularly in women with significant atherosclerotic risk factors and undiscovered spinal hypoplasia. Early detection and treatment can help to prevent disability.”
(With Inputs From Agencies)
