Georgina Carter, from March, Cambridgeshire, was left with swollen eyes and burns covering her face, chest and back – and it took doctors six months to figure out why.
The 26-year-old management consultant went to get her hair dyed and eyebrows tinted at a hair salon back in March this year and only noticed the symptoms of an allergic reaction a week later.
Georgina noticed noticed a small chemical burn on her ear and suspected it was only eczema or psoriasis at first.
But within another week the burn had spread across her face and body, her eyes had swollen and her skin had dried out and cracked.
The mum-of-one had suffered an allergic reaction to paraphenylenediamine (PPD), a chemical found in most hair dyes.
It took six months of trips to A&E, three different doctors, a private dermatologist and 19 different tests to figure out what has cause Georgina's extreme reaction.
She said: “I’ve always dyed my hair, I trained as a hairdresser and beauty therapist through college and loved changing my hair. I’ve been black, blonde, brown, pink, purple and red, pretty much any colour you can think of.
“My whole body was itchy to the point where I was sleeping with ice packs on my body.
“I had no idea it was an allergic reaction.
“I tried a range of prescription steroid creams and different moisturisers that had been prescribed and some that I bought from the shop.
“I’m not sure why I reacted, maybe it was because my hormones after having my baby had changed but we are still unsure.
“I’m upset that I can’t dye my hair again but I am able to have highlights using bleach as this contains no PPD but I still panic each time just in case.
“I am more cautious of what I wear, although I try not to let it bother me.
“Make sure as a hairdresser or beautician, you are not completing a treatment without a patch test and as a client, never risk having a treatment without one by thinking, 'it won’t happen to me’."
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