Hyderabad woman suffers rare ‘beauty parlour stroke syndrome’ after hair wash in salon: What is it?

A 50-year-old woman recently suffered from ‘beauty parlour stroke syndrome’ while visiting a salon in Telangana’s Hyderabad. A neurologist from Hyderabad, who treated the woman, took to Twitter to explain the case and what is this syndrome. According to Dr Sudhir Kumar, senior consultant neurologist, Apollo Hospitals, Jubilee Hills, the woman showed symptoms of dizziness, nausea and vomiting, “which started during her hair wash 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

Doctors who handled her case said a key vessel supplying blood to the brain was pressed when she bent her neck for the hair wash, which led to the stoke, Times of India reported. What is the beauty parlour stroke syndrome and how does it happen? What happened to the woman in Hyderabad? Let’s take a closer look. What is beauty parlour stroke syndrome? Dr Michael Weintraub had coined the term beauty parlour syndrome in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1993 after five women developed “serious neurological symptoms following shampoos at hair salons”, as per The Guardian report. Their symptoms included severe dizziness, loss of balance and facial numbness, while four out of five suffered strokes, the report added. [caption id=“attachment_11553401” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A woman suffered from ‘beauty parlour stroke syndrome’ after visiting a salon where she got her hair washed. PTI (Representational Image)[/caption] The syndrome or vertebrobasilar insufficiency can occur in “extremely rare” cases when tilting the back of the neck over a basin can tear the artery, leading to blood clots and strokes, The Guardian cited experts as saying. As per Hyderabad doctors, these similar cases are common among men who opt for a neck massage at salons, reports Times of India (TOI). Dr Praveen Kumar Yada, consultant neurologist at KIMS, Secunderabad, who has treated such cases, told TOI, “It happens when the masseur presses down on the neck and head hard, at times the neck to produce a cracking sound. This leads to tender vessels getting injured, leading to a stroke.” What happened to the Hyderabad woman? Dr Kumar wrote in a Twitter thread that the 50-year-old first went to a gastroenterologist. However, her symptoms “did not improve and she developed mild imbalance while walking”, as per the neurologist. “She had mild right cerebellar signs. MRI brain revealed infarct in the right posterior inferior cerebellar territory, MR angiogram showed left vertebral hypoplasia,” he added. [caption id=“attachment_11553371” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The woman in Hyderabad suffered from beauty parlour stroke syndrome due to ‘hyperextension of neck towards the basin while washing hair’, says a doctor. AFP (Representational Image)[/caption] Dr Kumar told TOI that the woman had clots in her right cerebellum and in a key artery in the back of the neck called PICA (Posterior inferior cerebellar artery).

He said they realised it was ‘beauty parlour stroke syndrome’ as it occurred due to “hyperextension of the neck towards the basin while washing hair”.

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Dr Subodh Raju, director, neuro and spine surgery, AIG Hospitals told TOI, that the woman had a “thinner than usual vertebral artery, leading to slower blood supply to the brain”. “In this particular case, the woman’s left side artery was thin. So, when her neck was tilted slightly to the right, it got kinked or compressed with the hyperextension which led to a stroke,” Dr Kumar was quoted as saying by Indian Express. He further said that the woman took two to three weeks to recover with the help of blood thinners which she would require “for the rest of her life” as she has hypertension as well. Warning about the syndrome, Dr Kumar tweeted, “Stroke affecting vertebrobasilar 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.”

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

ALSO READ: Here are a few common mistakes you are making with wet hair that is damaging your tresses What is its treatment and how to prevent stroke? Dr Jyoti Bala Sharma, director of neurology, Fortis Hospital, Noida, told India Today that such a stroke is triggered when there is a pre-existing symptom. “In this kind of stroke, usually there’s a pre-existing disease in the artery which is known as atherosclerosis. This is a deposit in the wall of the arteries when they are weak. Normal arteries, even if they are pressed hard, will not get injured until and unless the pressure is too much,” she explained. In case a person gets a stroke, Dr Kumar recommends blood thinners. “While some recover well post stroke, others owing to co-morbidities and age may need to be on medication throughout life,” he said, as per Indian Express. The stroke can be prevented by ensuring that the neck is not twisted hard or hyperextended while washing hair. Dr Pavan Pai, interventional neurologist and stroke specialist at Mumbai’s Wockhardt Hospitals, told Indian Express that when a person feels dizzy while their neck is tilted backward while hair washing, they should be immediately taken to a doctor. Dr Kumar suggests that the neck should not be extended at more than 20 degrees. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.