[ijcr]

Gosh! This is worse than Restless Leg Syndrome.

[Judith Anne]

A true illness. If you have a carotid artery that's getting clogged, and bend your head back over a hard basin, it can cut off the blood supply to the brain.

[GeronL]

OMG!! Now I have heard everything

[Arkinsaw]

My grandmother fell asleep in a chair with her head leaned back over the headrest and had a major stroke.

[clee1]

Holy Shite!

I have never heard of this before! I gotta call my Mom!

[ladyinred]

This is a new and frightening one!

[let freedom sing]

This puts a new spin on a little wet behind the ears.

[New Horizon]

Did they at least finish the job?

[BfloGuy]

OMG!

I had no idea -- all these horror stories.

Note to self: stay home, never go out again. NEVER!

[Dr. Eckleburg]

This is more prevalent than people imagine. Any distension of the neck puts a person at risk, especially older women and men.

Roller coasters do the same kind of damage, but since younger people ride roller coasters, the negative effects are not seen as frequently.

[k omalley]

This is very true. About 15 years ago I took care of a patient in ICU who had lost consciousness while having her hair washed at a beauty salon. She had a massive stroke. It was very sad, she and her husband had just retired and were getting ready to leave on a cruise, he looked so devastated when he came to visit her. She did not survive.

[eyespysomething]

My mom suffered a major MAJOR stroke after having eye surgery, because the way her neck was bent back during surgery. When she was leaving the hospital the next day, she stood up to leave and whammo. If she hadn't been at the hospital, she would've died. It wasn't much better for her that she was there, but she got a few more years to live (sort of). It all had to do with the neck position during surgery and a blood clot breaking loose.

That being said, eye surgery is longer than a shampoo, and she had had previous problems, including carotid artery surgery (scraping out the artery) on her neck.

[HIDEK6]

Let's say I walk into a beauty salon to get a shampoo. The stylist is eating a PBJ sandwich and the patron in the next stall is smoking.

Do I qualify for a Purple Heart?

[captbarney]

a number of years ago I fell asleep on the sofa with my head bent backwards. The next day I started to experience dizzy spells. A day or so later I fell in the street. This finally prompted me to see a Dr.. After an MRI it was discovered I had "pinched" a number of blood vesssels in my upper neck. Diagnosis "vertigo", etc. After wearing a neck brace for a number of months all was well. Haven't had a reoccurance. LESSON- bending the neck backwards(even in "loosening up" exercises)is DANGEROUS

[Rander7]

I've been a hairdresser since 1968, and have never had this problem..I usually fold a towel to cushion the patron's neck so it's not so uncomfortable. When giving a perm, some hairdressers leave the person in the sink for the last procedure called neutralizing..I never do..as soon as the person has been rinsed, I have them sit up and then neutralize. I always ask them if they are uncomfortable..I was unaware about this...I also ask them if they have blood pressure problems before putting them under a dryer. The heat from a dryer could cause some folks problems too. Just a few thoughts from a hairdresser's experience.

[Rander7]

in regards to post # 40...our daughter is also a hairdresser, and I'll be sure to show this article to her! Thanks for the "heads-up" ( no pun intended!)!!

[Nita Nupress]

It sounds laughable, but it's very real. Anything that causes prolonged hyperextension of the neck -- hair shampooing, telephone calls, & dental work -- can result in occlusion of the vertebral artery, leading to stroke.

Canadian Medical Assn Journal
November 12, 2002
v.167(10) N 12'02 pg 1104

Telephone stroke
Parmar, Malvinder S

During head rotation, neck hyperextension and other provocative manoeuvres of the neck, the vertebral artery may be compressed at various sites along its course.(f.#1)  A 63-year-old man with a history of type 2 diabetes, hypertension and ischemic heart disease presented with symptoms of slurred speech, unsteadiness and left-side weakness immediately after a 56-minute telephone conversation. Physical examination revealed left facial droop with mild weakness of the left arm and hand grip of 4/5. Electrocardiography showed sinus rhythm. CT of the head (Fig. 2) showed calcification of the right vertebral artery and a small right pontine infarct. Duplex Doppler ultra-sonography showed small atherosclerotic plaques at the distal common carotid arteries. The echocardiogram was normal.

Ischemia and infarction of the brain stem can occur if an abnormal posture of the neck is sustained for more than 10 minutes.(f.#2) These problems have been reported after chiropractic neck manipulation,(f.#3) protracted dental work, intubation, perimetry and x-ray positioning(f.#2) and have been described in ''beauty parlour stroke syndrome.''(f.#4)  Given the temporal relation between the prolonged telephone conversation and the stroke, and exclusion of other causes, this man's right pontine infarct was probably the result of compression of the ipsilateral vertebral artery during the phone call. He had kept his neck bent to the right side throughout the conversation, which caused compression of the already calcified right vertebral artery and resulted in stroke.

This case illustrates another situation in which a person may unconsciously keep the neck in an abnormal position that could cause compression or occlusion of the vertebral circulation. Anyone who talks on the telephone for prolonged periods, especially elderly people, should consider changing sides frequently or using a hands-free telephone to avoid sustained provocative neck positions.

Malvinder S. Parmar
Medical Director, Medical Program
Timmins and District Hospital
Timmins, Ont.

(f.#1) Grossman RI, Davis KR. Positional occlusion of the vertebral artery: a rare cause of embolic stroke. Neuroradiology 1982;23:227-30.

(f.#2) Fogelholm R, Karli P. ''Iatrogenic'' brainstem infarction: a complication of x-ray examination of the cervical spine and following posterior tamponation of the nose. Eur Neurol 1975;13:6-12.

(f.#3) Krueger BR, Okazaki H. Vertebrobasilar distribution infarction following chiropractic cervical manipulation. Mayo Clin Proc 1980;55:322-32.

(f.#4) Weintraub MI. Beauty parlor stroke syndrome: report of five cases. JAMA 1993;269:2085-6.

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[steveo]

[Only1choice____Freedom]

This has been the death of many a programmer.

They read the instruction on the shampoo bottle that says:

lather
rinse
repeat

They just get caught in a loop.