Doctors warn against using box hair dye at home after woman ends up temporarily blind

Dying your hair at home can lead to dangerous consequences. Several people have ended up with serious illnesses after simply changing their hair colour at home. A French woman turned temporarily blind because of some toxic elements in a hair dye that is commonly used in the UK. Here's what happened.

A woman turned temporarily blind after using hair dye

An unnamed 61-year-old French woman had a terrible accident after dying her hair at home. She used a hair colour she had bought over-the-counter to dye her hair at home. Only a few days later, she started experiencing blurry vision, and she went to the hospital to get checked out. Doctors, as reported by the medical journal JAMA Ophtalmology, found that she had a serious case of retinopathy, which means that some of the blood vessels in her eye, used to see, were severely damaged.

They quickly found out that her ailment had been caused by the box dye she had used, which contained a toxic chemical named paraphenylenediamine. The toxin has been linked to other health issues in the past, and it is very often found in hair dyes, especially in darker tones.

Doctors do not know how it had travelled into her blood vessels, and she was temporarily blind for about four months before her vision eventually got back to normal. Since her illness, the woman has switched to paraphenylenediamine-free hair products, and she is said to be healthy now, although she probably got the scare of her life.

Doctors warn against dying your hair at home

While doctors have said that the woman did not get any other health issues in the four years since her ordeal, they still warned against using hair dye that contains paraphenylenediamine, as it can contaminate your blood vessels by entering your body through small cuts in your scalp, neck, ears and hands. The NHS argues that such products are still safe to use at home, as the levels of the toxin are thoroughly controlled in hair dyes sold in the United Kingdom. It has also been claimed that people who experience health issues following their use of said hair dyes usually get sick because they did not follow the box instructions as they should have.

When dying your hair at home, you should always try a little bit on a small patch of your skin, to check if you have got any allergies to some products that may be found in the dye.

Read more:

This 25-year-old woman made bold hair decision for her wedding, and the results are incredible

Science reveals whether dying your hair is actually harmful to your health

Here's why you should never go outside with wet hair, and it might surprise you

Sources used:

Daily Mail: Doctors' warn against using DIY hair dye as woman goes temporarily blind after colouring hair at home

New York Post: I was blinded in one eye after using hair dye

NHS: Hair dye reactions

JAMA Ophtalmology: Retinopathy Associated With Hair Dye