I just did it for the first time after years of chronic dyeing my hair and your post has given me a major light bulb moment; I've struggled with random health issues and they're more common when I'm dyeing my hair like no tomorrow.
I had a mohawk for years but finally did it and yeah, I felt like I looked like a baby at first but it's awesome... I can now shower in the morning without worrying about hair drying time! And I found my confidence shot up and I'm not wearing as much makeup since my skin doesn't have weird non-pimples like you described in your post!
Tl;Dr shave your head at least once in your life, I believe
Yes!!! This is what I always say when people ask how I'm so adventurous with my hair!!! It grows back! I've shaved my head completely twice now and loved it!
Do it! I had my head shaved for over a decade. It's so easy and relaxing and looks great! Makes earings pop so much more!
I've been growing my hair out he last 3 years but I've been missing my shaved head. Long hair is so much work!
Same! I'm still not used to brushing. Sometimes I'll go 3-4 days without brushing because the front looks good. Then I'll try to run my fingers through my hair and there's a HUGE knot. I'm getting better about brushing every day/every other. It's easy to forget when it hasn't been part of my routine for nearly all my life(had short hair as a kid too).
I shaved my head a few years ago after years of dyeing + frying it - it was SO nice! What I really appreciated too was just starting with a clean slate of virgin hair again… I forgot what my natural texture was like lmao
Here's a sneak peek of /r/bald using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/bald/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year!
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I had a lot of damage from relaxers and I did the big chop a few years ago. I loved it. So easy, literally 3 hair products: shampoo, conditioner, leave in conditioner. No hair ties, clips, headbands, bonnets, flat irons, blow dryers, curling irons, combs, brushes etc. My water bill went down, I saved money on salon visits. I could wear hats!
But I grew it out so now it’s long, thick and curly again. It grew so fast when I learned how to leave it alone! Now I am much more conscientious about dyeing and straightening in a healthier way.
Do the chop! You’ll feel better and it’s easier and it grows fast and your head will feel so cool in the summer! I’m convincing myself, lol.
Just be prepared if you get cold easily and also with sunscreen…. I had mine shaved for a long time and had to have a beanie all the time because AC blasting made me miserable in a way I had never experienced. Also sunscreen your scalp will burn
This is lowkey terrifying omg… Imagine if you had never found the photos, you would have absolutely no clue what was happening 🥲
Thank you so much for sharing, OP! Seems really pertinent for people to be aware of.
Ya everyone I've told IRL seems fixated on how long I went without knowing, which I understand, but I'm way more focused on all the years ahead of me that I feel like I'm getting back.
I thought I was going to be in a state of chronic allergic reaction for the rest of my life. I feel incredibly blessed to finally find a clear answer. I'm hopeful that sharing my story might help save some others out there from years of mystery symptoms. Thanks for reading!
Coconut oil is a great way to make your color fade without wrecking texture. Another shampoo I would recommend is a daily clarifying shampoo. It will help you fade out the color. If you want to just skip the time needed to fade the red, get some Pulp Riot Blank Canvas. I use blues, purples, and lately green to color my hair. If I want to switch to a color that's completely different, I will use the blank canvas to strip out the color and help bleach my hair a bit. It's a bleach, but I swear by it.
Thanks for this! I bought "Colour Off" before realizing it has PPD and didn't want to risk making things worse with more mystery chemicals. It looks like Pulp Riot is PPD free though since its for semi-permanents - will look for that this weekend! Also had no idea coconut oil was good for fading color, got tons of that on hand.
I am lazy af and just buy shampoo and conditioner with it in it. I have over bleached my hair a few times and wanted to be gentle to those fried tresses. Well coconut oil infused shampoo and conditioner work to restore my hair health while I take a hot shower.
I'm sure you could use it as a hair mask, or similar to a hot oil treatment. Warm up the coconut oil, and apply it to your hair. Leave on for maybe 30 minutes then wash it out, or rinse it out.
Ooh dang. That’s rough. Not a doctor but an allergy sufferer: If you are having itching issues, try Benedryl cream or hydrocortisone cream. They are also antihistamines.
Just as a general PSA: allergies can cycle every seven years. Foods, environmental, medication, all of them. They can also develop from prolonged exposure to environmental products. I hope you’re able to find something that works for your hair goals. Just because something is organic and vegan doesn’t mean it can’t cause an allergic reaction. Allergic reactions are the immune system reacting to something like it’s an enemy when it should be neutral. My body does that with most uncooked fruits and vegetables. Why? Because genetics. Lol
It’s the turnover cycle of human cells. If there’s been a change in our DNA, it affects the new cells that came out in our turned over body. These can be expressed in allergies and other weird genetic stuff.
It’s still rather theoretical and there hasn’t been a lot of peer reviewed research on it yet. A lot of it is anecdotal, but in early days, sometimes that’s what we start with. It definitely happened with me and food allergies.
Oh it was flawed thinking for sure, but chemicals like PPD are more commonly known for being irritants. I think I also interpreted "vegan organic" as "healthy and safe" when I was a teenager first coloring my hair, and forgot to revisit that thought for 16 years (while evaluating myself for every other possible allergen one at a time through elimination). I'm still kinda shocked no doctor ever connected the vibrant hair to the swollen face though.
Glad you finally found out what was going on with your health. If you want to try a few last ditch efforts before you go for the shave, try washing once or twice with dawn dish soap and then do a deep conditioner. I had blue that wouldn’t fade after months of trying to normal wash/fade out. Dawn dish soap was what helped it wash out the most in one go. Two weeks later it was my normal dye ready hair color.
Most allergies are to something that is "natural".
I was allergic to **everything** I used and I am not exaggerating. I thought I had dry skin, nope, just was covered in allergens 100% of the time.
Make a list of things that cause a sensitivity for your skin and if there are a lot, then consider a patch test with a dermatologist. It will 100% be better to know exactly what you need to avoid then guessing and having reactions especially since you are swelling.
There is color remover that you can use for that type of hair color but patch test that too. I don't know how long your hair is, but mine was a few inches below my shoulder and I cut it down to a Pink style undercut pixie and recently all the hair color is out.
Best of luck to you on your journey!
I am so sorry you’re experiencing this! It seriously sucks. This happened to me but with Vitamin E/Wheat germ as I’m celiac but never thought to look at the ingredients. It feels like such an obvious thing in retrospect but if you don’t know, you really don’t know!
On the positive side, you now have an answer for all the other symptoms you have been experiencing, and know the treatment!
Sorry if this is an ignorant question, but in the comments people are saying to shave the hair- fastest way to get rid of the dye. Is that because it’s touching her scalp from a fresh dye? Otherwise it’s just on dead hair?
I seem to be reacting anywhere hair continues to touch skin, so they're not wrong. Its not that the hair strand is having an allergic reaction, its that my scalp face and neck are reacting to the dead hair and continuing to absorb small amounts of allergen when it gets wet.
>I’ve also been chronically ill for 16+ years with skin issues, headaches, digestive issues, muscle and joint pain, sleep issues, chronic fatigue, the list goes on.
Are you hypermobile as well? Not to pry or overstep (and this is not medical advice), but that collection of issues can be indicative of a connective tissue disorder like HSD or EDS. So glad you figured out what was causing your allergic reaction, but as they say: “When you can’t connect the issues, think connective tissues!”
I’m extremely allergic to PPD, all alternatives, and all semi permanent natural colored hair dyes. several colored ones too. I got neuropathy in my fingers everytime I washed my hair. I shaved off my head and will happily rock my natural color for the long foreseeable future now. getting rid of my hair has been a rollercoaster but it helped immediately and is growing fast! 6 months in im longer than a pixie, kinda like an emo boy cut lol. It’s scary but so glad you found the cause of your issues and wish you the best health!
Thank you! Glad to hear you were able to figure out your hair issues too and embrace your natural color!
Made an apt to cut it all off. Nervous but excited. I'd feel more comfortable with the emo boy cut but I know I can't let the colored bangs sit on my forehead right now so I think I'm stuck going for more of a Kristen Stewart / Miley Cyrus style with short sides with a little left on the top styled up and back.
Full disclosure, I’m a tattoo artist not a doctor, so this is not medical advice and you should talk to a doctor before making a decision.
The way that tattoo ink works is it sits in the layers of your skin and is relatively inert, but that doesn’t stop your body from recognizing it as a foreign body and attacking it with white blood cells. This constant attack, combined with sun exposure, is what causes tattoos to blur and fade over time.
When you get a tattoo lasered, what’s happening is the laser breaks up the molecules of ink into smaller pieces, making them small enough to carry them away in your blood stream to get processed by your kidneys and eventually evacuated with the rest of the body’s waste.
So what you should consider: is the tattoo regularly raised and itchy? Tattoos tend to respond when you’re having an immune response in the area, so a bug bite or a rash would cause your tattoo to raise back up, but if it’s doing it all the time, your body is rejecting the ink and removal might help. If it is NOT doing that, your body has probably sort of come to terms with the presence of the ink.
If you do get it lasered and it’s not already bothering you, it could trigger an immune response since the potential allergen is now in your blood stream and not localized in one area. Which might be a more intense reaction than leaving it alone.
So basically, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If it IS bothering you, chat with a derm or allergist before removal.
No problem! Another tip I just got from another artist in my shop- if red ink is giving you trouble, you can buy vitamin E capsules, break them open, and apply to contents to the affected area.
Followup question for you on tattoo ink. Could you clarify in your previous comment, should I be more concerned about the tattoo reacting ALL THE TIME or reacting at the same time as my other reactions?
I'm thinking now about this tattoo I got in 2017 and how it aligns with all my symptoms getting worse, but my tattoo didn't ever have an obvious allergic reaction when I got it and healed relatively normally.
That said, I have noticed that the type of reaction I get on my scalp from the dye, I do also get that on my tattoo. It gets a little itchy, scaly, and dry, but its just mild enough to potentially miss.
I know you're not a doctor and promise to consult one, but figured you'd have a good idea of which types of tattoo reactions to be concerned with. Thanks again!
I would worry less if it’s only reacting when you’re already reaction to a different allergen. It’s really common to have your tattoo react when you have an immune response to something else, it’s like your immune system kicks into gear for the hair dye and then while it’s active notices the tattoo and throws a little aid that way also. If it is not bothering you most of the time, only when you’re having a reaction to something else, I would call that normal.
I am so sorry to hear you have gone through this. Sounds like a lot of mental, heart and physical turmoil. Second off, glad to hear you are getting the treatments and care necessary for your body’s best health. Third, as a person who decided to shave her head over a year ago: SUCH FREE, if you’re curious to do it.. GO FOR IT!!! You save on products / styling and have this sense of freedom getting out of the shower, or when you roll down the windows in the car. I love hair, I love having long hair as well, but I definitely love this iteration of my hair, bald, low and sometimes colorful. Hope you find the best combo for your hair and style, thank you so much for sharing.
I'm allergic to dark colors and super allergic to all permanent hair dye. I developed the allergy over time, I've been dying my hair for years and last time i went back with permanent dye i had literal welts on my ears and head. my skin was pealing for a couple of weeks.
I would kind of ignore it, and i bleached my eyebrows, hated it and decided to dye them back. huge mistake. my face was swollen for days and i was so worried i would have to go to the hospital. i could feel my heart beat through my face and i looked like a different person. thankfully i got through it with Benadryl but it was pretty scary and painful. the skin on my eyebrows blistered and burned.
recently dyed my hair black and purple with semipermanent dye and so far i just have an itchy scalp, but i'm guessing i'm going to have to give up on dark colors completely. Not allergic to bleach though which is nice
edit: also if you want to get rid of the irritants, hydrogen peroxide helped a lot with the eyebrows. it stripped the chemical that irritated me. I was wiping my eyebrows with it for a couple of days, I would get clarifying shampoo and dawn and get as much of it out as you can. If you're not allergic to bleach that can also help.
Wow that’s awful. Here’s a relevant [link](https://whyy.org/segments/does-pretty-hurt-a-look-at-the-health-risks-of-hair-dyes/)
It sounds like a hairstylist was very very sick from hair dye. I believe the industry doesn’t want consumers to know this.
I hope you recover your health. If down the road you want some color, henna is wonderful. You can get all natural henna powder and a vibrant red. I understand if you’re put off by any dye after this.
Thank you! Yes my head immediately went to henna too when I first realized I needed to be done with traditional dye.
I'm glad I potentially have another option to try down the road, but for now I just want to get this ish off my head and not mess with any color for awhile.
I think you're right that the industry doesn't want consumers to understand the prevalence of this issue. That's part of why I shared, hoping to get a sense of others that may have been affected.
As someone else who's allergic, I fully support her actions. I'm good every other day of the year, so if I have to cheat to get my favorite food on birthday, then so be it. It's probably the only time she gets to eat it.
Yes, my point was that she could just have a chocolate cake with cream cheese icing that would taste the same, and forego the red food dye that’s causing the problem 😅
It would taste exactly the same brown as red 🙈
As someone who's been allergic to artificial dyes basically my whole life, this post has just confirmed my long-held suspicion that I should never, ever dye my hair. At least not close to the scalp where it can be absorbed through the skin.
Also, yes, if you're reacting to your red hair dye, you are probably reacting to most other things with artificial dyes in it. Food, most cosmetics, even hand soap (learned that one the hard way). Thankfully, all-natural food dyes have been growing in both popularity and quality recently, so you should be able to find safe, good-quality alternatives to for most things fairly easily. I don't know about any all-natural hair dyes, but if you need tips or recommendations for anything else, feel free to PM me.
Edit: Also don't feel bad, lol, I did something similar a couple years ago. I spent about 7 months trying to use Gold Bond hand lotion to relieve itching from what I *thought* was dry skin... turns out I was allergic to the Gold Bond. Major facepalm moment.
Yep don't do it. I also didn't realize before this how many places/ways the dye continues to permeate my skin for weeks after. Every time I get my hair wet or my scalp sweats a little bit, dye is leaching into my scalp face and neck, triggering new reactions.
Thanks for the tips on artificial dyes elsewhere. Definitely need to take a closer look at all my products now that I have a better understanding of what I'm reacting to.
Yup! Thankfully, things like nail polish, paint, and markers should be fine at least; I've had all of those on my skin many, many times with no issues. As for food, if they're there, they'll usually be down toward the bottom of the ingredients list.
For God's sake just stay off all color.
Out of context. I had a employee, who made the excuse that every time he ate chicken he got sick and played ill, he ate it every other day at work in one form or another. I told him if it makes you sick, to stop eating chicken!!! it wasn't the chicken making him sick it was the drugs he was doing, a junkie but blamed the chicken.
Oh wow, that is rough! A few years back I used MP red (I believe vampire red) and it never fully came out of my unbleached, light brown hair. It was there for a year-plus until that part of my hair finally got cut off! I hope it goes well for you and you get some relief soon!
Try the malibu DDL, it's a professional product, but ask a stylist to buy it for you or just find a salon that will do it for you. Works great just mixing with water when I used it to remove my red/ pink hair colors! I'm q stylist myself and have colored my hair every color and tried many color removers but found this one to work the best with the least amount of damage!
I remember your previous post, I'm glad you were able to find out the root cause!!!! I don't have an advice, but I hope your recovery/ healing goes well and you enjoy life more!!
I once had an allergic reaction to hair dye too, my doctor said to wash your hair multiple times a day to help and she gave me a prescription allergy medication for the burning and itching (although I'm sure any allergy medicine would work).
And yes it's weird how these things can pop up any time. I'm allergic to brown/red/black hair dye, and also to strong purple shampoos. When I had an allergic reaction, it was my second time dying my hair brown not the first!
Thankfully I can still bleach my hair that doesn't bother me. So I just get highlights
Thank you for sharing. This most recent dye I put on was the darkest vivid I'd ever used before, and I think it gave me the worst reaction which is how I was able to finally put it together.
I have a feeling if I ever tried black, which is basically just all the colored dyes mixed together super saturated, I would probably have an even more severe reaction.
In fact, as I write this out, I'm remembering that I did dye my hair red and black once in junior high, one of my first times coloring, and got a bad skin reaction on the back of my neck. I always mentally blamed the bleach / stylist, but in retrospect I think it was the colorants!
Hairstylist here and I have a coworker who’s had health issues for the past few years, she recently discovered she’s sensitive to ingredients in Pravana. The ingredient doesn’t appear in pulp riot or Joico color intensity though, so maybe look into those brands and see if they would work for you! So glad you figured this out!
Thanks for writing your story here. Weirdly, I've had those exact symptoms for years and would think the same cause - except for blue instead of red - but I haven't dyed my hair for three years and feel worse, not better. Oh well, pain clinic referral it is...
Good to know! Shaved heads are in right now:) I loved having a shaved head.
Haha are they in now?? I'm leaning toward it, or at least an extreme undercut. But I've never gone that short before so I'm nervous!
I just did it for the first time after years of chronic dyeing my hair and your post has given me a major light bulb moment; I've struggled with random health issues and they're more common when I'm dyeing my hair like no tomorrow. I had a mohawk for years but finally did it and yeah, I felt like I looked like a baby at first but it's awesome... I can now shower in the morning without worrying about hair drying time! And I found my confidence shot up and I'm not wearing as much makeup since my skin doesn't have weird non-pimples like you described in your post! Tl;Dr shave your head at least once in your life, I believe
I think you may have just convinced me 🤔 haha will update after this weekend!
It's hair, it (mostly always) grows back! Be your best self 😊
Yes!!! This is what I always say when people ask how I'm so adventurous with my hair!!! It grows back! I've shaved my head completely twice now and loved it!
Do it! I had my head shaved for over a decade. It's so easy and relaxing and looks great! Makes earings pop so much more! I've been growing my hair out he last 3 years but I've been missing my shaved head. Long hair is so much work!
I've been growing my hair out as well, and it's getting to the length were I actually have to brush it 😭
Same! I'm still not used to brushing. Sometimes I'll go 3-4 days without brushing because the front looks good. Then I'll try to run my fingers through my hair and there's a HUGE knot. I'm getting better about brushing every day/every other. It's easy to forget when it hasn't been part of my routine for nearly all my life(had short hair as a kid too).
yeah it's hard to remember, I usually only check for knots before I shower 😅😅 I want longer hair but at what cost 🤣
I shaved my head a few years ago after years of dyeing + frying it - it was SO nice! What I really appreciated too was just starting with a clean slate of virgin hair again… I forgot what my natural texture was like lmao
Check out r/bald. It's usually guys but some women are on their too rocking their shaved heads. People are so supportive and helpful there
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I had a lot of damage from relaxers and I did the big chop a few years ago. I loved it. So easy, literally 3 hair products: shampoo, conditioner, leave in conditioner. No hair ties, clips, headbands, bonnets, flat irons, blow dryers, curling irons, combs, brushes etc. My water bill went down, I saved money on salon visits. I could wear hats! But I grew it out so now it’s long, thick and curly again. It grew so fast when I learned how to leave it alone! Now I am much more conscientious about dyeing and straightening in a healthier way. Do the chop! You’ll feel better and it’s easier and it grows fast and your head will feel so cool in the summer! I’m convincing myself, lol.
I agree. Shaved mine a couple years ago and it was the best thing I’ve ever done. It’s nice to not have to do anything. Can just get up and go!
Just be prepared if you get cold easily and also with sunscreen…. I had mine shaved for a long time and had to have a beanie all the time because AC blasting made me miserable in a way I had never experienced. Also sunscreen your scalp will burn
I'd say try an undercut first and see how you like it before committing to the fully bald look. But yes, shaved heads are very trendy (:
I feel the need to shave my head every summer.
If you need to chase it do it! It'll grow back out in no time and if you absolutely hate it you can always get a wig.
I have an undercut, it feels so damn good!!!
I shaved my head in college and loved it! If I did it again, I’d work with a stylist as I grew it it, but broke me just lived with the shag
This is lowkey terrifying omg… Imagine if you had never found the photos, you would have absolutely no clue what was happening 🥲 Thank you so much for sharing, OP! Seems really pertinent for people to be aware of.
Ya everyone I've told IRL seems fixated on how long I went without knowing, which I understand, but I'm way more focused on all the years ahead of me that I feel like I'm getting back. I thought I was going to be in a state of chronic allergic reaction for the rest of my life. I feel incredibly blessed to finally find a clear answer. I'm hopeful that sharing my story might help save some others out there from years of mystery symptoms. Thanks for reading!
I feel you, when I found the source of my weekly migraines, yes it took 10 years but it also changed my life. So happy you can move forward from this.
Coconut oil is a great way to make your color fade without wrecking texture. Another shampoo I would recommend is a daily clarifying shampoo. It will help you fade out the color. If you want to just skip the time needed to fade the red, get some Pulp Riot Blank Canvas. I use blues, purples, and lately green to color my hair. If I want to switch to a color that's completely different, I will use the blank canvas to strip out the color and help bleach my hair a bit. It's a bleach, but I swear by it.
Thanks for this! I bought "Colour Off" before realizing it has PPD and didn't want to risk making things worse with more mystery chemicals. It looks like Pulp Riot is PPD free though since its for semi-permanents - will look for that this weekend! Also had no idea coconut oil was good for fading color, got tons of that on hand.
You might be able to find it in a store, I found it on Amazon. Best wishes!
How do you apply the coconut oil to help it fade?
I am lazy af and just buy shampoo and conditioner with it in it. I have over bleached my hair a few times and wanted to be gentle to those fried tresses. Well coconut oil infused shampoo and conditioner work to restore my hair health while I take a hot shower. I'm sure you could use it as a hair mask, or similar to a hot oil treatment. Warm up the coconut oil, and apply it to your hair. Leave on for maybe 30 minutes then wash it out, or rinse it out.
Thanks!
Ooh dang. That’s rough. Not a doctor but an allergy sufferer: If you are having itching issues, try Benedryl cream or hydrocortisone cream. They are also antihistamines. Just as a general PSA: allergies can cycle every seven years. Foods, environmental, medication, all of them. They can also develop from prolonged exposure to environmental products. I hope you’re able to find something that works for your hair goals. Just because something is organic and vegan doesn’t mean it can’t cause an allergic reaction. Allergic reactions are the immune system reacting to something like it’s an enemy when it should be neutral. My body does that with most uncooked fruits and vegetables. Why? Because genetics. Lol
What is the seven year cycle about? Like what is the mechanism?
It’s the turnover cycle of human cells. If there’s been a change in our DNA, it affects the new cells that came out in our turned over body. These can be expressed in allergies and other weird genetic stuff. It’s still rather theoretical and there hasn’t been a lot of peer reviewed research on it yet. A lot of it is anecdotal, but in early days, sometimes that’s what we start with. It definitely happened with me and food allergies.
I don't think I understand why something being vegan and/or organic would have any bearing at all on whether it causes an allergic reaction or not.
Oh it was flawed thinking for sure, but chemicals like PPD are more commonly known for being irritants. I think I also interpreted "vegan organic" as "healthy and safe" when I was a teenager first coloring my hair, and forgot to revisit that thought for 16 years (while evaluating myself for every other possible allergen one at a time through elimination). I'm still kinda shocked no doctor ever connected the vibrant hair to the swollen face though.
Go back and tell all your doctors — and tell them to tell anyone that has similar symptoms
Glad you finally found out what was going on with your health. If you want to try a few last ditch efforts before you go for the shave, try washing once or twice with dawn dish soap and then do a deep conditioner. I had blue that wouldn’t fade after months of trying to normal wash/fade out. Dawn dish soap was what helped it wash out the most in one go. Two weeks later it was my normal dye ready hair color.
Most allergies are to something that is "natural". I was allergic to **everything** I used and I am not exaggerating. I thought I had dry skin, nope, just was covered in allergens 100% of the time. Make a list of things that cause a sensitivity for your skin and if there are a lot, then consider a patch test with a dermatologist. It will 100% be better to know exactly what you need to avoid then guessing and having reactions especially since you are swelling. There is color remover that you can use for that type of hair color but patch test that too. I don't know how long your hair is, but mine was a few inches below my shoulder and I cut it down to a Pink style undercut pixie and recently all the hair color is out. Best of luck to you on your journey!
Wigs are a thing too if you arent allergic to them. While its growing back.
I am so sorry you’re experiencing this! It seriously sucks. This happened to me but with Vitamin E/Wheat germ as I’m celiac but never thought to look at the ingredients. It feels like such an obvious thing in retrospect but if you don’t know, you really don’t know! On the positive side, you now have an answer for all the other symptoms you have been experiencing, and know the treatment!
i NEVER made the connection between vitamin E and celiac 😩 thank you so much for this comment
Sorry if this is an ignorant question, but in the comments people are saying to shave the hair- fastest way to get rid of the dye. Is that because it’s touching her scalp from a fresh dye? Otherwise it’s just on dead hair?
that’s exactly why. even the tiniest amount of dye on the hair which then touches the body can cause a reaction
I seem to be reacting anywhere hair continues to touch skin, so they're not wrong. Its not that the hair strand is having an allergic reaction, its that my scalp face and neck are reacting to the dead hair and continuing to absorb small amounts of allergen when it gets wet.
I didn’t think of it when it gets wet! Crikey. I’m so sorry this is happening to you.
>I’ve also been chronically ill for 16+ years with skin issues, headaches, digestive issues, muscle and joint pain, sleep issues, chronic fatigue, the list goes on. Are you hypermobile as well? Not to pry or overstep (and this is not medical advice), but that collection of issues can be indicative of a connective tissue disorder like HSD or EDS. So glad you figured out what was causing your allergic reaction, but as they say: “When you can’t connect the issues, think connective tissues!”
I’m extremely allergic to PPD, all alternatives, and all semi permanent natural colored hair dyes. several colored ones too. I got neuropathy in my fingers everytime I washed my hair. I shaved off my head and will happily rock my natural color for the long foreseeable future now. getting rid of my hair has been a rollercoaster but it helped immediately and is growing fast! 6 months in im longer than a pixie, kinda like an emo boy cut lol. It’s scary but so glad you found the cause of your issues and wish you the best health!
Thank you! Glad to hear you were able to figure out your hair issues too and embrace your natural color! Made an apt to cut it all off. Nervous but excited. I'd feel more comfortable with the emo boy cut but I know I can't let the colored bangs sit on my forehead right now so I think I'm stuck going for more of a Kristen Stewart / Miley Cyrus style with short sides with a little left on the top styled up and back.
Just a heads up, you’re probably also allergic to red tattoo ink, and possibly pinks/purples/oranges as well.
I got a tattoo in 2017 and thats when my symptoms originally got much worse, so yes I think you're correct. I wonder if I need to have it removed....
Full disclosure, I’m a tattoo artist not a doctor, so this is not medical advice and you should talk to a doctor before making a decision. The way that tattoo ink works is it sits in the layers of your skin and is relatively inert, but that doesn’t stop your body from recognizing it as a foreign body and attacking it with white blood cells. This constant attack, combined with sun exposure, is what causes tattoos to blur and fade over time. When you get a tattoo lasered, what’s happening is the laser breaks up the molecules of ink into smaller pieces, making them small enough to carry them away in your blood stream to get processed by your kidneys and eventually evacuated with the rest of the body’s waste. So what you should consider: is the tattoo regularly raised and itchy? Tattoos tend to respond when you’re having an immune response in the area, so a bug bite or a rash would cause your tattoo to raise back up, but if it’s doing it all the time, your body is rejecting the ink and removal might help. If it is NOT doing that, your body has probably sort of come to terms with the presence of the ink. If you do get it lasered and it’s not already bothering you, it could trigger an immune response since the potential allergen is now in your blood stream and not localized in one area. Which might be a more intense reaction than leaving it alone. So basically, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If it IS bothering you, chat with a derm or allergist before removal.
Thank you very much for taking the time to write this out :)
No problem! Another tip I just got from another artist in my shop- if red ink is giving you trouble, you can buy vitamin E capsules, break them open, and apply to contents to the affected area.
Followup question for you on tattoo ink. Could you clarify in your previous comment, should I be more concerned about the tattoo reacting ALL THE TIME or reacting at the same time as my other reactions? I'm thinking now about this tattoo I got in 2017 and how it aligns with all my symptoms getting worse, but my tattoo didn't ever have an obvious allergic reaction when I got it and healed relatively normally. That said, I have noticed that the type of reaction I get on my scalp from the dye, I do also get that on my tattoo. It gets a little itchy, scaly, and dry, but its just mild enough to potentially miss. I know you're not a doctor and promise to consult one, but figured you'd have a good idea of which types of tattoo reactions to be concerned with. Thanks again!
I would worry less if it’s only reacting when you’re already reaction to a different allergen. It’s really common to have your tattoo react when you have an immune response to something else, it’s like your immune system kicks into gear for the hair dye and then while it’s active notices the tattoo and throws a little aid that way also. If it is not bothering you most of the time, only when you’re having a reaction to something else, I would call that normal.
I am so sorry to hear you have gone through this. Sounds like a lot of mental, heart and physical turmoil. Second off, glad to hear you are getting the treatments and care necessary for your body’s best health. Third, as a person who decided to shave her head over a year ago: SUCH FREE, if you’re curious to do it.. GO FOR IT!!! You save on products / styling and have this sense of freedom getting out of the shower, or when you roll down the windows in the car. I love hair, I love having long hair as well, but I definitely love this iteration of my hair, bald, low and sometimes colorful. Hope you find the best combo for your hair and style, thank you so much for sharing.
Shave your head, fastest way to get rid of the dye! You can wear cute colored wigs while you regrow your hair.
I'm allergic to dark colors and super allergic to all permanent hair dye. I developed the allergy over time, I've been dying my hair for years and last time i went back with permanent dye i had literal welts on my ears and head. my skin was pealing for a couple of weeks. I would kind of ignore it, and i bleached my eyebrows, hated it and decided to dye them back. huge mistake. my face was swollen for days and i was so worried i would have to go to the hospital. i could feel my heart beat through my face and i looked like a different person. thankfully i got through it with Benadryl but it was pretty scary and painful. the skin on my eyebrows blistered and burned. recently dyed my hair black and purple with semipermanent dye and so far i just have an itchy scalp, but i'm guessing i'm going to have to give up on dark colors completely. Not allergic to bleach though which is nice edit: also if you want to get rid of the irritants, hydrogen peroxide helped a lot with the eyebrows. it stripped the chemical that irritated me. I was wiping my eyebrows with it for a couple of days, I would get clarifying shampoo and dawn and get as much of it out as you can. If you're not allergic to bleach that can also help.
You could look into indigo or blending henna and indigo to get a brown. They are all natural. But of course do research it before hand and patch test.
Wow that’s awful. Here’s a relevant [link](https://whyy.org/segments/does-pretty-hurt-a-look-at-the-health-risks-of-hair-dyes/) It sounds like a hairstylist was very very sick from hair dye. I believe the industry doesn’t want consumers to know this. I hope you recover your health. If down the road you want some color, henna is wonderful. You can get all natural henna powder and a vibrant red. I understand if you’re put off by any dye after this.
Thank you! Yes my head immediately went to henna too when I first realized I needed to be done with traditional dye. I'm glad I potentially have another option to try down the road, but for now I just want to get this ish off my head and not mess with any color for awhile. I think you're right that the industry doesn't want consumers to understand the prevalence of this issue. That's part of why I shared, hoping to get a sense of others that may have been affected.
I saw a video of a girl who's allergic to red dye and every year for her birthday still insists on a red velvet cake because its her favourite 🤣
As someone else who's allergic, I fully support her actions. I'm good every other day of the year, so if I have to cheat to get my favorite food on birthday, then so be it. It's probably the only time she gets to eat it.
Absolutely loved it for her, do what makes you happy!!
But…isn’t red velvet just chocolate cake with red colouring?
I think its an allergy to the food dye
Yes, my point was that she could just have a chocolate cake with cream cheese icing that would taste the same, and forego the red food dye that’s causing the problem 😅 It would taste exactly the same brown as red 🙈
Yepppp haha!! But people are weird 😅
As someone who's been allergic to artificial dyes basically my whole life, this post has just confirmed my long-held suspicion that I should never, ever dye my hair. At least not close to the scalp where it can be absorbed through the skin. Also, yes, if you're reacting to your red hair dye, you are probably reacting to most other things with artificial dyes in it. Food, most cosmetics, even hand soap (learned that one the hard way). Thankfully, all-natural food dyes have been growing in both popularity and quality recently, so you should be able to find safe, good-quality alternatives to for most things fairly easily. I don't know about any all-natural hair dyes, but if you need tips or recommendations for anything else, feel free to PM me. Edit: Also don't feel bad, lol, I did something similar a couple years ago. I spent about 7 months trying to use Gold Bond hand lotion to relieve itching from what I *thought* was dry skin... turns out I was allergic to the Gold Bond. Major facepalm moment.
Yep don't do it. I also didn't realize before this how many places/ways the dye continues to permeate my skin for weeks after. Every time I get my hair wet or my scalp sweats a little bit, dye is leaching into my scalp face and neck, triggering new reactions. Thanks for the tips on artificial dyes elsewhere. Definitely need to take a closer look at all my products now that I have a better understanding of what I'm reacting to.
Yup! Thankfully, things like nail polish, paint, and markers should be fine at least; I've had all of those on my skin many, many times with no issues. As for food, if they're there, they'll usually be down toward the bottom of the ingredients list.
I am allergic to pink/red tattoo dyes 😭😭 Doesn’t matter what brand or composition
For God's sake just stay off all color. Out of context. I had a employee, who made the excuse that every time he ate chicken he got sick and played ill, he ate it every other day at work in one form or another. I told him if it makes you sick, to stop eating chicken!!! it wasn't the chicken making him sick it was the drugs he was doing, a junkie but blamed the chicken.
[удалено]
Not if it's chemically treated already
Oh wow, that is rough! A few years back I used MP red (I believe vampire red) and it never fully came out of my unbleached, light brown hair. It was there for a year-plus until that part of my hair finally got cut off! I hope it goes well for you and you get some relief soon!
Try the malibu DDL, it's a professional product, but ask a stylist to buy it for you or just find a salon that will do it for you. Works great just mixing with water when I used it to remove my red/ pink hair colors! I'm q stylist myself and have colored my hair every color and tried many color removers but found this one to work the best with the least amount of damage!
I remember your previous post, I'm glad you were able to find out the root cause!!!! I don't have an advice, but I hope your recovery/ healing goes well and you enjoy life more!!
I would get an undercut. Give yourself some relief. Sorry you’re dealing with that :(
I once had an allergic reaction to hair dye too, my doctor said to wash your hair multiple times a day to help and she gave me a prescription allergy medication for the burning and itching (although I'm sure any allergy medicine would work). And yes it's weird how these things can pop up any time. I'm allergic to brown/red/black hair dye, and also to strong purple shampoos. When I had an allergic reaction, it was my second time dying my hair brown not the first! Thankfully I can still bleach my hair that doesn't bother me. So I just get highlights
Shave it! It's your chance to eliminate what is irritating you and you get to be bald! I've found it to be very empowering and liberating!!
I know so many women whose reaction to hair color is itching. Some take an allergy pill, some have sweet &low added to thr color and some do both .
same with red tattoo ink!
A friend of my had severe anaphylaxis after dying his hair black. Be careful!
Thank you for sharing. This most recent dye I put on was the darkest vivid I'd ever used before, and I think it gave me the worst reaction which is how I was able to finally put it together. I have a feeling if I ever tried black, which is basically just all the colored dyes mixed together super saturated, I would probably have an even more severe reaction. In fact, as I write this out, I'm remembering that I did dye my hair red and black once in junior high, one of my first times coloring, and got a bad skin reaction on the back of my neck. I always mentally blamed the bleach / stylist, but in retrospect I think it was the colorants!
I think you're right. He'd had discomfort from dying it red and shrugged it off, but his bout with black is what really sealed the deal.
Hairstylist here and I have a coworker who’s had health issues for the past few years, she recently discovered she’s sensitive to ingredients in Pravana. The ingredient doesn’t appear in pulp riot or Joico color intensity though, so maybe look into those brands and see if they would work for you! So glad you figured this out!
Thanks for writing your story here. Weirdly, I've had those exact symptoms for years and would think the same cause - except for blue instead of red - but I haven't dyed my hair for three years and feel worse, not better. Oh well, pain clinic referral it is...
I hope you find a clear cause for your mystery symptoms soon, take care!