In a rare accident, a 50-year-old woman suffered a stroke while having a hair spa in Hyderabad, the capital city of India's Telangana state.
The lady was taken to a hospital, where the doctor proclaimed a rather extravagant diagnosis: 'Beauty Parlor Stroke Syndrome'.
According to local media reports, the woman suffered a stroke while having her hair washed as her neck was bent backward, pressing a blood vessel supplying blood to the cerebellum and the brainstem.
Sputnik spoke with Dr Shivaram Rao K, Consultant Neurologist at Yashoda Hospitals in Hyderabad city, who explained that the syndrome with which she was diagnozed can result in life-long disability, and even turn out to be life-threatening, although most of the time, it is mild with only giddiness or transient symptoms.
"It usually occurs because of hyperextension of the neck, which sometimes can cause kinking or pressure on the arteries supplying the brain, leading to decreased blood flow predominantly over the posterior part of the brain, leading to [stroke] symptoms," Dr Rao said.
The most common symptoms include giddiness, loss of consciousness, and loss of balance and there can be associated nausea and vomiting.
The woman from Hyderabad was first referred to a gastroenterologist because her symptoms suggested that was what was wrong. However, when her condition worsened the next day, as she developed "mild imbalance while walking", she was taken to a hospital, where a neurologist diagnosed her with beauty parlor stroke syndrome involving the right posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA).
She reportedly took two or three weeks to recover.
Dr Rao said the syndrome is mostly seen in elderly people "in whom there is already a compromise in the blood vessel architecture which can be exaggerated by hyperextension of the neck. Sometimes, though, there are cases when younger people with pre-existing vessel abnormalities have reported this problem."
The term 'Beauty Parlor Syndrome' was coined in the Journal of the American Medical Association by Dr Michael Weintraub in 1993, after he had seen five women who had developed serious neurological symptoms during a shampoo at hair salons.
Dr Rao said that if anyone sees such symptoms, the patient should lie down immediately and visit a neurologist - a general MRI with angio can diagnose the problem.
"Once the patient starts taking blood thinners, they can recover fast," Rao said.
In general care, he said, one should avoid extension of the neck beyond a certain angle, including aggressive massaging around the head and neck.