Horrific reaction to hair dye leaves 27-year-old man with a giant ‘BALLOON HEAD’ like the cartoon character Megamind
A horrible reaction to hair dye left one man with a giant ‘balloon head’ and looking like the cartoon character ‘Megamind’.
Ryan Briggs, from Blackburn, Lancashire, said his head swelled so much his girlfriend could not even look at him.
Shocking photos show how the 27-year-old’s reaction to the application of black hair dye developed from a rash to swelling on his scalp, and eventually the skin on his entire face.
He sought medical attention and doctors eventually prescribed him a course of 25 tablets a day to control the massive swelling.
Mr Briggs’ ordeal began late last month, on July 27, when his mother bought him black hair dye to cover up some gray hairs.
Ryan Briggs, from Blackburn, Lancashire, initially thought the worst he would get from a hair dye that didn’t suit his scalp was a nasty rash
However, it was just the beginning of an allergic reaction to the ingredient in the hair dye, which left the 27-year-old with a gradually swelling head
But even this wasn’t the worst of it, as the reaction eventually spread to the gas fitter’s face, affecting his vision
The gas fitter then applied the formula to his scalp, but without first conducting a patch test to see how his skin would react.
Mr Briggs said he had a burning sensation but assumed it was normal and then went to sleep.
A few hours later he woke up to find a flaky rash had developed around his hairline.
He assumed the unfortunate reaction was the worst and just went to work.
To his horror, he noticed that his head grew larger and larger as the day went on, giving him an extremely itchy ‘balloon head’.
After being sent home by colleagues, he went to the hospital, where doctors told him to return the next day if the reaction got worse, much to the horror of his girlfriend, who “couldn’t even look at him.”
Unfortunately, the swelling persisted and the reaction spread to his face, causing such disfigurement that he could no longer open one of his eyes.
When the man was taken to hospital by paramedics, they told Mr Briggs he had suffered a reaction to paraphenylenediamine, a chemical commonly found in hair dye.
Recalling his ordeal, Mr Briggs said: ‘I should have done a patch test, but I didn’t know I had to.’
“I put the paint on and it burned a little bit, but I thought that was what it was doing. It clearly wasn’t.”
‘The next day I woke up with a little bit of a rash. It wasn’t too bad, but during the day my head started to expand.’
He added: ‘My colleagues said, “You have to go to the hospital.”‘
‘I didn’t look like myself at all. It was horrible. It was huge. I looked like Megamind.
‘I went to the hospital and they sent me home, and if it got worse I had to come back the next day.
“I went home and my girlfriend was stunned. She couldn’t look at me because I didn’t look like myself. I had a big balloon head.”
The next day, Mr Briggs returned to hospital, where he was monitored by doctors for 13 hours.
Doctors had to ensure that the swelling did not extend to his neck and especially his airways before he was discharged.
Mr. Briggs described the initial swelling of his head as if he resembled the character Megamind from the animated film
As the day progressed, Mr Briggs said his bulging head became so bad his girlfriend ‘couldn’t even look at him’
Mr Briggs would ultimately spend more than 13 hours in hospital as doctors became concerned about the reaction in his neck, which could potentially affect his breathing.
He had to take a series of 25 tablets a day for the next five days to make the swelling go down.
However, Mr Briggs says he has been left with scabs on his scalp and warns other Brits looking to get rid of grey hair to always do a patch test first.
“My scalp is covered in yellow and green scabs, but my face is back to normal now,” he said.
‘Always do a patch test. It could have been worse, it went all the way down to my neck and everything.
‘I’m glad it’s over now, but definitely test it again on a patch, 100%.’
The NHS warns people to always do a patch test before using any permanent or semi-permanent hair dye, ‘even if you use your normal brand’.
The health service warns that many permanent and some semi-permanent hair dyes contain paraphenylenediamine, which the NHS describes as a ‘known irritant and allergen’. Levels are generally higher in darker hair dyes.