HOW SAFE ARE BEAUTY PARLOURS


Guncha was all excited about her brother’s wedding. She was the groom’s sister and wanted to look as pretty as can be. She went to the parlour and had a facial, waxing, and her eyebrows done. The next morning when she woke up , her eyes were hurting. When she looked in the mirror her eyes were red and swollen. She had contracted some infection in the parlour.

Teena was very happy that day. She was 16 and her mother had finally given her permission to go wax. She had her arms and legs waxed and was all ready to sport a mini skirt and sleeveless top. But to her dismay her skin broke out into small red follicular cysts, which were itchy. She was rushed to the dermatologist who confirmed that she had an allergy following the wax.

Puja was getting married in a couple of days. She had her mehendi function in a day’s time and wanted to look beautiful. She went to the parlour and had a special facial done and applied a unique face pack which was to enhance her complexion. But a few minutes after applying the face pack her skin began to burn. When it was taken off her cheeks had all got burnt. She found it difficult to cover up these burnt cheeks even at her wedding.

These are just a few cases of infections contracted at beauty parlours. We all go to the parlours thinking we will come back looking pretty but how beautiful are these beauty parlours? Hygiene is a very important factor. We should make sure we go to a hygienic beauty parlour and take all precautions before we say yes to any of those fancy treatments they offer.

Though branded parlours keep customer safety and hygiene in mind, your friendly neighbourhood parlour may not be all that friendly to your skin. The Potential problem areas include hair brushes, scissors, wax spatulas, hair colouring brushes, waxing strips and tweezing threads.

The most common forms of infections that one can contract in beauty parlours are –

Folliculitis- Waxing indeed gives you flawless skin, but an improper wax can leave you with painful follicular pustules and a bikini area wax can cause fungal infection.
Threading rashes- one must ensure that proper linen thread is used and the portion of the thread touching the beautician’s mouth does not touch the skin.
Facials allergies- post facial people break out into rashes, and even have a problem of skin peeling. Make sure you use good products and not sub standard ones.

BEAUTY PARLOUR SYNDROME

Beauty Parlour Syndrome was first reported in the early 1990s. An American neurologist identified five patients who suffered a stroke due to prolonged deformation of their necks. However, further research was slow to develop until 1997 when a report in The Lancet detailed how a 42-year old woman had a stroke after the dissection of her right internal carotid artery during a hair wash. Her head had been extended backwards for about five minutes and afterwards she felt numb and experienced slurred speech. On this occasion doctors recommended that hairdressers should use a cushion so that the head is not overextended.
The Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Liverpool explains: “It is not due to pressure on the artery cutting off the blood supply to the brain, but is much more likely to be caused by a small tear in the lining of the vertebral arteries which run from the back of the neck up into the base of the brain. Clots could form on the rough, irregular torn area, break off and be swept upstream into the brain to cause a stroke.” For a person to experience a stroke in this case they would have to be predisposed to arterial damage and this is difficult to identify in patients.
The beauty parlour therefore apart from making you prettier puts you at a risk of several infections and problems. So the next time you are heading to the parlour to beautify yourself, remember to visit a hygienic parlour, because that little parlour down your lane may not be particularly hygienic. Take all the precautions to use products of standard and not stuff you are allergic to. A good parlour which uses hygienic products can beautify you, but a substandard one can destroy your looks. So beware!