This Woman's Head Swelled Like Crazy Due to an Allergic Reaction to Hair Dye
When you hear horror stories about people's hair breaking off or worse after attempting to color their hair, they're usually due to a DIY job. (Remember the teen with the at-home ombre disaster?) It's rare that we hear about terrifying results that occur in a salon. Sadly, that's exactly what happened to Julie Matthews, who usually looks like this:
After years of getting blonde highlights, the college sophomore decided to go brown. The colorist went to work on her hair, applying a semi-permanent dye to the top layer - all normal so far. "I had never experienced any sort of reaction to peroxide, which is likely why the hairdresser assumed a patch test wasn't necessary," Matthews tells GoodHousekeeping.com. But then her scalp started burning, which she asked her stylist about, who replied that a bit of burning was standard.
Despite the amount of pain she was feeling, Matthews sat through the rest of the 40-minute dye job until the stylist rinsed it out. Once it was all styled, it looked totally fine - until she woke up the next morning with a "clear, fragrant liquid" seeping from her scalp. She quickly washed her hair to get rid of it, but soon realized that her scalp was still oozing - and that her head hurt. Then, she looked in the mirror and realized her head was swelling.
After showing her mother, Matthews headed to the emergency room, where she was treated with an EpiPen and given an antihistamine - mild treatments, as the resident physician who looked at her thought it was just a mild reaction. She then returned home, but the treatments failed, and Matthews soon experienced trouble breathing, more swelling and excruciating head pain. Upon returning to the hospital, she was rushed to an attending doctor and two nurses.
Several medical tests later, Matthews learned that she is severely allergic to pigment paraphenylenediamine, commonly referred to as PPD, which is also used for black henna tattoos.
"It took about a week for the swelling to finally subside, and I was closely monitored in the hospital for two nights then prescribed two medications to take for two weeks thereafter," Matthews says. Unfortunately, the recovery on her scalp took longer - she had to see a dermatologist after she was released from the hospital due to the second degree burns she suffered:
Though her scalp continued to peel for weeks, she feels fortunate that her hair didn't fall out. Now, Matthews is unable to color her hair - doctors have advised her to avoid it at all costs. "For me, the possibility of having a reaction even remotely similar to this is not worth the risk," she says.
Let this be a lesson: If you're feeling something badly burning your scalp, speak up. Your stylist would rather know you're in pain than have you sit through it in silence. And always do a patch test - and it could save you a lot of trouble, should you be having an allergic reaction.
