This sounds crazy but apparently it is true.
Elizabeth Smith, 48, is suing a salon in California where she says a bad shampoo job nearly killed her.
The appointment itself seemed uneventful, but a little over a week later, Smith says she experienced weakness on the left side of her body and had trouble balancing, reports Buzzfeed. Six days later, she began vomiting and was rushed to the ER, where docs told her she had had a major stroke.
The cause was eventually determined to be a torn artery wall in one of her vertebrae, which caused a blood clot that traveled to her brain. Smith suspects the injury occurred during her shampoo, when her head was hyperextended, or tipped too far back.
It may sound far-fetched, but that specific cause of neck injury has happened before—often enough, in fact, to have been dubbed “Beauty Parlor Stroke Syndrome” in medical literature. The first known case dates back to 1993.
Don’t let that scare you off regular blowouts, though. The total number of cases of BPSS are tough to quantify, but it’s still pretty rare, and tends to target those with atherosclerosis, a buildup of plaque in the arteries that is itself a risk factor for stroke.
What’s more, BPSS is easy to prevent. If your salon doesn’t have a shampoo chair with good neck support, use a rolled-up towel to prop yourself up (your neck should be in a straight line with your spine, not bent backward) and say something if you’re not comfortable. After all, the head shampoo should be the most relaxing part of your appointment!
Source: Women’s Health Mag
Oh dear! Frightening!