Woman face balloons after reaction to hair dye

A student in France said she thought she could die after a severe allergic reaction to a hair dye that had swollen her head.

Estelle, 19, who asked Newsweek To avoid revealing her last name, she bought a hair dye in a supermarket two weeks ago, so she could turn herself from a blonde into a brunette.

She worried a few hours after applying the dye to her scalp when it started to get itchy. Not thinking about it too much, she went to get a cream for irritation from the pharmacist – but the worst was yet to come.

Two days later, she looked in the mirror and was shocked by what she saw. His head was swollen beyond recognition.

"I had a light bulb head," she said The Parisian.

She was rushed to the hospital, where doctors discovered that she had an allergic reaction to paraphenylenediamine (PPD), a compound found in 90% of hair dyes and known for its allergic risks.

The circumference of his head was inflated from 22 to 24 inches.

The doctors gave Estelle an injection of adrenaline and kept him there all night for observation. Newsweek she thought that she could die.

"Before you get to the hospital, you do not know how long it will take to suffocate, whether you have time to go to the hospital or not," she said.

She posted images of her ordeal on Facebook as a warning to people who might be unaware of the details of hair dye products.

"Now I'm fine. I do not care enough about myself because of the incredible shape of my head.

Estelle had a severe allergic reaction when she tried to color her hair. She shared images of her social media fate to warn others of the dangers of allergens in hair dyes.
The Parisian

"But my most important message is to ask people to be more vigilant with products like this, because the consequences could be fatal, and I want companies that sell these products to make their warnings more clear and more visible. "

The concentration of PPD in hair dyes has been regulated since 2013. According to the guidelines of the National Health Service (NHS) of the United Kingdom, their use is safe, provided the safety instructions are followed.

Catherine Oliveres-Ghouti, from the National Union of Dermatologists of France told The Parisian that two to three percent of the population may be allergic to the substance and that it often encounters cases of "eczema, eyes like a rabbit and a swollen head".

"I have seen disfigured patients, but cases as extreme as Estelle are rare," she told the newspaper.