Doctor Tweets About "Beauty Parlour Stroke", Claims Woman Suffered After Salon Hair Wash

A 50-year-old Hyderabad woman's visit to a salon for relaxing treatments ended up being a nightmare. Before getting her hair trimmed, the woman had a stroke while having her hair washed. Her stroke was caused, according to the medical professionals caring for her, when she bent her neck back to wash. This pressured a crucial blood vessel supplying the brain.

Sharing this information on Twitter Hyderabad Neurologist Dr. Sudhir Kumar wrote, "The woman initially experienced dizziness, nausea, and vomiting while having her "hair washed with shampoo in a beauty parlour."

2. Symptoms did not improve, the next day she developed mild imbalance while walking. She was referred for my opinion. She had mild right cerebellar signs. MRI brain revealed infarct in right posterior inferior cerebellar territory, MR angiogram showed left vertebral hypoplasia

— Dr Sudhir Kumar MD DM🇮🇳 (@hyderabaddoctor) October 30, 2022

The doctor further wrote, "Initially, she was taken to a gastroenterologist, who treated her symptomatically. The symptoms did not improve, and the next day she developed a mild imbalance while walking. She was referred to me for an opinion. The symptoms did not improve, and the next day she developed a mild imbalance while walking. She was referred to me for an opinion. She had mild right-cerebellar signs. MRI brain revealed an infarct in the right posterior inferior cerebellar territory, MR angiogram showed left vertebral hypoplasia."

"A diagnosis of #beauty #parlour stroke syndrome involving the right PICA territory was made. Possible mechanism is kinking of the vertebral artery during hyperextension and turning of neck towards wash-basin while washing hair with shampoo. She had well controlled #Hypertension too," he added.

4. Take home message: Stroke affecting vertebro-basilar artery territory can occur during shampoo hair-wash in a beauty parlor, especially in women with other atherosclerotic risk factors and undetected vertebral hypoplasia. Prompt recognition and treatment can prevent disability

— Dr Sudhir Kumar MD DM🇮🇳 (@hyderabaddoctor) October 30, 2022

"A stroke affecting vertebro-basilar artery territory can occur during shampoo hair-wash in a beauty parlor, especially in women with other atherosclerotic risk factors and undetected vertebral hypoplasia. Prompt recognition and treatment can prevent disability," he wrote.

Beauty parlour syndrome was coined in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1993 by Dr Michael Weintraub after he saw five women who had developed serious neurological symptoms following shampoos at hair salons. Complaints included severe dizziness, loss of balance, and facial numbness. Four out of five suffered strokes, The Guardian reported in an article published in 2016.

According to the ResearchGate, "beauty parlour stroke syndrome", otherwise known as a hairdresser-related ischemic cerebrovascular event (HICE) or vertebral-basilar ischemia (VBI), is a rare phenomenon caused by either cerebral artery dissection or vertebral artery compression due to neck positioning and manipulation at the hair salon sink bowl.