For 48-year-old Elizabeth Smith, a simple trip to her hairdressers turned her life upside down.
The Californian woman visited the salon in December 2013, and spent about 10 minutes getting her hair washed in the sink.
It was eight days later when she experienced weakness in her left arm and leg. The next week, she suffered a major stroke.
Telling ABC 10 News, “I vomited, my head became hot and I couldn’t stand. I had weakness in my arms and legs. They didn’t think I was going to live.”
When doctors told her the most likely cause was a rare condition called Beauty Parlour Stroke Syndrome, she was shocked.
Elizabeth Smith
Beauty Parlour Stroke Syndrome occurs when one of the four main arteries linked to the brain suffer an injury, tear or blood clot. This can be caused by hyperextension of the neck and can also occur in activities like tennis, yoga or sitting in the dentist’s chair.
“When you hyperextend your neck, there can be a little bit of compression on the artery from simply just changing the position or the bones slide a little bit one over the other,” Peter Gloviczki, a vascular surgeon, told Self magazine.
Today, the single mum-of-two still has balance problems and vision loss. She has been warned that if she suffers another stroke, she could die.
For ways to lessen the risk of Beauty Parlour Stroke Syndrome, doctors recommend supporting the neck so it’s tilted back at no more than a 20-degree angle, or simply bending the neck forwards over the basin instead.
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