Beauty Parlour Stroke Syndrome

Warning over 'hair salon stroke'

A widower has urged women to be careful when visiting the hair salon after his wife died from a stroke.

Malcolm Crabb believes his wife Pamela, 51, suffered so-called Beauty Parlour Stroke Syndrome after her head was bent back while being washed at a salon.

Experts believe that when the head is pushed backwards onto a sink it can lead to overextension in the neck.

A consultant neurologist at Cumberland Infirmary, David Bateman, said: "If your neck is stretched and it kinks for a long time - as happens during hairwashing - you stretch the arteries and if you are unlucky you can tear them."

Bleeding between layers of tissue can cause blood clots to build up, leading to a stroke, he told the Times.