Customer wins £90k from hair salon after shampoo and rinse gives him stroke
A CUSTOMER who suffered a devastating stroke as a result of having his hair washed at a salon has won £90,000 compensation.
Father-of-two Dave Tyler suffered a near-fatal blood clot while his head was bent backwards over a basin – the latest case of so-called beauty parlour syndrome.
Experts believe that as the neck extends, the artery can over-extend and become torn, either blocking it completely or causing a clot which restricts blood supply to the brain.
Sound engineer Mr Tyler began suffering headaches and collapsed during a business meeting two days after visiting the Headmasters salon in Brighton in 2011.
The 45-year-old was rushed to hospital and later transferred to London’s National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, where a consultant asked him: ‘Have you had your hair cut recently?’
There is little public awareness of beauty parlour syndrome and cases are rare, but specialists can recognise the telltale signs. Doctors told Mr Tyler that he had suffered an initial blood clot in the salon which had given him the headaches.
The clot burst two days later, sending lots of smaller clots into his brain – blocking the blood supply and causing a stroke, known as a lateral medullary syndrome.
His symptoms included slurred speech, poor muscle co-ordination, double vision, violent hiccups and partial loss of pain and temperature sensation.
Speaking of his collapse, Mr Tyler said: ‘I felt the whole side of my body go numb and while waiting for the ambulance my eyes went ping and started rolling. This made me nauseous so I was sick.
‘I took a swig of water without knowing I’d lost the ability to swallow. The water wasn’t going anywhere and I couldn’t breathe. And because I wasn’t able to swallow, I ingested some of the vomit into my lungs and developed pneumonia.’
Mr Tyler was in hospital for three months and initially came home in a wheelchair. Following physiotherapy, he is now able to walk with a stick but still suffers pain. ‘I will never drive again because I have permanently wobbly double vision,’ he said.
Mr Tyler, who has worked with Simply Red, Radiohead, Blur and Bjork, used to love long country walks and sailing a dinghy with his wife Kirsty and daughters Holly, 11, and Hazel, eight, but said: ‘Those days are now over.’
Mr Tyler claimed he was not offered adequate neck protection when he had his hair washed, saying: ‘There was a minimal layer of towel.’ His lawyers brought a product liability claim against Headmasters but the case was settled before it reached court in February, with Mr Tyler receiving £90,000.
Hairdressers do not need formal qualifications to wash a client’s hair. The Hairdressing and Beauty Industry Authority has issued a training leaflet, but this says only: ‘When at the basin, make sure your client is comfortable and positioned correctly to avoid wetting their clothing and to avoid excess pressure on their neck.’
Hair specialist Mary Gill, who provided expert evidence for Mr Tyler’s case, said the industry did not warn customers or staff sufficiently of the dangers.
Mr Tyler believes people should have the option of having their hair washed while facing forward, and that trainee hairdressers should be told of the ‘worst-case scenario’.
In 2000, a British woman, Pamela Crabb, 51, suffered a stroke which left her with slurred speech after having her hair washed at a salon.
Headmasters declined to comment last night.