CHENNAI: It’s always a great experience for women and men to visit a beauty parlour to meet their grooming and styling requirements, which have advanced with the beauty and cosmetics market, and procedures improving to unprecedented levels since the 2000s.
However, it would always be prudent and in the interest of the parlour to partner with their local area general doctor/dermatologist/hospitals for certain untoward situations that occur to their customers from a very minor allergy to severe allergic reactions and also to something called Beauty Parlour Stroke syndrome also called in medical terms as ‘Rotational Vertebral Artery Syndrome’.
Hair washing, vigorous neck massage, hair transplant done by someone who’s not echnically qualified, chin lifting, and cosmetic treatment could all potentially lead to people suffering from a stroke in the salon. The dictum is for parlours to be careful in not to hyperextend the neck backwards to more than 20 degrees from the flat imaginary line when bending backwards. The blood vessels from the neck areas pass on to the brain from the neck and are susceptible to get kinked (pressurised on bending) and cause in certain people to cause blood supply to be affected to certain brain areas with an ultimate condition resembling stroke.
Support of the nape of the neck by a folded towel is beneficial to restrict hyperextension of neck. Symptoms can range from dizziness, syncope (fainting), impaired vision/rapid eye rotation, nausea, eye pupillary disturbances and other motor and sensory deficits (loss of sensation and movements of the concerned area) that occur with head rotation. Patients might need immediate attention at a hospital centre that has good facilities to manage a complex disorder like stroke.
Beauty parlour staff should exercise caution when washing hair or giving massages. Customers should request gentle massages rather than vigorous ones to avoid putting too much pressure on the blood vessels, which might result in a stroke. In addition, it is advised that if a person suffers from any recurring pain, they should consult a doctor instead of getting a home massage.
(The writer is consultant dermatologist & aesthetic physician, Aster RV Hospitals, Bengaluru)