Because of hair dye: ‘My head looked like a light bulb’
A student from France got severe allergic reaction to hair dye she purchased from supermarket which made her head to swell up to almost double its original size.
Estelle, 19, purchased a supermarket dye to darken her hair – but as French newspaper Le Parisien reported, she suffered a severe allergic reaction to one of its ingredients.
Estelle, 19, says she performed a patch test using the product, which she didn’t realize contained the chemical PPD (paraphenylenediamine). However she admitted to Le Parisien that she left it on for just 30 minutes. It is recommended to wait 48 hours for any side effect before applying the hair dye.
PPD is used in hair dyes, dark-colored makeup, lipstick, henna tattoos and a number of other products. But a reaction can cause serious complications such as rhabdomyolysis (muscle breakdown that could lead to kidney damage), renal failure, rapid swelling (angioneurotic edema) and respiratory failure.
The girl said that she noticed irritation almost immediately and her head began to swell. She took some antihistamines, but the next morning, her head measured 24.8 inches, as opposed to the average size, 22 inches.
Here is the video of her tragic experience:
Estelle told the newspaper, “I could not breathe. I had a lightbulb head.”
The girl was admitted to the emergency room, as her tongue continued to swell. There, she was given an injection of adrenaline and kept overnight. She has since made a full recovery, but she wants to warn others of the dangers of dyeing their hair at home.
Estelle is now sharing her pictures on social media, as she campaigns for the warnings on hair dye packaging to be made bigger
