Ryan Briggs, a 27-year-old man from Blackburn, Lancashire, had a terrible reaction to hair dye that made his head swell up like a “balloon.” This swelling made him look like a cartoon character named “Megamind,” and it was so severe that his girlfriend couldn’t even look at him.
The incident began when Ryan’s mother bought him black hair dye to cover some new grey hairs. Ryan, who works as a gas installer, applied the dye to his hair without doing a patch test first. A patch test is a way to check if you are allergic to the dye by applying a small amount to your skin and waiting to see if there is a reaction.
After putting the dye on his hair, Ryan felt a burning sensation on his scalp. He thought this was normal and went to bed. When he woke up a few hours later, he noticed a scaly rash around his hairline. Ryan assumed this was the worst of the reaction and went to work as usual.
However, as the day went on, his head started to swell and became very itchy. His coworkers were worried and sent him home. Ryan went to the hospital, where the doctors told him to return the next day if the swelling got worse. His girlfriend was shocked because his head was so swollen that he didn’t look like himself.
Unfortunately, the swelling spread to his face, causing one of his eyes to swell shut. When Ryan went back to the hospital, the doctors said he was having an allergic reaction to a chemical in the dye called.
paraphenylenediamine, which is common in many hair dyes. They were concerned that the swelling could affect his neck and breathing, which could be very dangerous. He was monitored for 13 hours to make sure his airway was safe.
To control the swelling, the doctors gave Ryan 25 tablets to take over five days. Although the swelling eventually went down, Ryan was left with scabs on his scalp. He now warns others to always do a patch test before using hair dye to avoid similar reactions.
Ryan said, “My scalp is covered with yellow and green scabs, but my face is back to normal. Always do a patch test. It could have been worse because the swelling was going down into my neck.”
The NHS (National Health Service) advises everyone to do a patch test before using any permanent or semi-permanent hair dye, even if it’s a brand you have used before, to prevent allergic reactions like Ryan’s.
