Can you be a hairdresser with an allergy?

[julieanne27uk]

Hi all!

My recent thread regarding hairdressing training has brought up a question about allergic reactions which I'm unsure about. I am allergic to hair colouring due to having a temporary tattoo some years ago in Greece which contained black dye. Colour has to be in contact with my skin for a prolonged time as with a patch test to cause me problems.

I currently work at my sisters hair salon on saturdays doing nails and occassionally do "saturday girl" jobs if i'm not busy for the hair salon. I have been a model at the local town centre college for one of my sister's junior staff members where I had a patch test done which caused a reaction and blistered, the tutor asked me if I would mind doing a tour of her other lessons so that all the students could see what an allergic reaction looks like! It was nice to be helpful :biggrin:!

I'm always very careful and wear gloves if I touch colour, when washing out tint bowls etc and I have my hair highlighted with foils so it doesn't touch my scalp. As the salon is my sisters and everyone is aware of my allergy I have never had a problem and it has better educated her staff with regards to health and safety involving colours.

As there is a member of staff on maternity leave later this year, I was looking into doing some training so that I could help out when the salon gets very busy. Would a college not train me in hairdressing do you think because of an allergy? Even if the allergy is not a problem if correct health and safety procedures are followed? Are there any qualified hairdressers out there who function perfectly well with an allergy? Opinions gratefully accepted :biggrin: Thank you!

Julie

 

[lucelasticx]

I have read both your threads on this matter!!!!
I have heard of hairdressers who have become allergic to dye after qualifiying and then will specialise (eg bridal hair ) so they dont have to come into conact with dye, but this is them making the best of a bad job and not wasting years of training!!
To choose to put yourself at risk seems madness to me as you may become intolerant of other products too.
Anaphylactic shock is not something to be trifled with one of my friends after hairdressing for years became allergic to a very popular afro hair leave in conditioner, it came on suddenly without warning and she was hospitalized for a while as she swelled up like a balloon and had breathing difficulties. Anaphylactic shock can kill!!!!!
Please please please dont take this lightly if i was your sister i have to say i would not be letting you work in the hair department as your health is much to precious!!!
Sorry to rant

 

[persianista]

I replied to you before. One of my interview questions to trainees is"have you any allergies". There is good reason for asking this, as the others have stated, reactions are serious.
As for your assertion that you will always wear gloves, I am primarily a colourist. I am extremely clean and tidy with tint(not many are) I wear gloves at all times when handling tint. I have a tinted thumbnail at the mo. It happens.

So you can keep asking the question in the hope someone will say "dont worry you will be fine" but I think a PPD allergy precludes becoming a hairdresser.

 

[minky]

Hi all!

My recent thread regarding hairdressing training has brought up a question about allergic reactions which I'm unsure about. I am allergic to hair colouring due to having a temporary tattoo some years ago in Greece which contained black dye. Colour has to be in contact with my skin for a prolonged time as with a patch test to cause me problems.

I currently work at my sisters hair salon on saturdays doing nails and occassionally do "saturday girl" jobs if i'm not busy for the hair salon. I have been a model at the local town centre college for one of my sister's junior staff members where I had a patch test done which caused a reaction and blistered, the tutor asked me if I would mind doing a tour of her other lessons so that all the students could see what an allergic reaction looks like! It was nice to be helpful :biggrin:!

I'm always very careful and wear gloves if I touch colour, when washing out tint bowls etc and I have my hair highlighted with foils so it doesn't touch my scalp. As the salon is my sisters and everyone is aware of my allergy I have never had a problem and it has better educated her staff with regards to health and safety involving colours.

As there is a member of staff on maternity leave later this year, I was looking into doing some training so that I could help out when the salon gets very busy. Would a college not train me in hairdressing do you think because of an allergy? Even if the allergy is not a problem if correct health and safety procedures are followed? Are there any qualified hairdressers out there who function perfectly well with an allergy? Opinions gratefully accepted :biggrin: Thank you!

Julie

Hi Julie , after re thinking your question ..... my answer has got to be the same as my other post below .....

This can all change so quickly and so easily to a severe full on Anaphylactic reaction even with the smallest of splash ,
you should not be washing off tints at all .... full stop its very very dangerous practice .

Your Allergy is totally avoidable and so I assume it wouldn't be classed as a H & S issue or disability at work ,
as you fully understand how to avoid it and how to stay away from it ,

for instance if someone has a severe nut allergy
and a customer of hers ate a chocolate bar with nuts in it, and she breathed in the air and went into Anaphylactic shock ,
she wouldn't have known about the nuts in the chocolate bar or how to avoid it ,
and this may be classed as an unavoidable H & S issue or even disability at work

but.... your allergy is totally avoidable ....
and therefore H&S may be see it as placing yourself at unnecessary risk and danger , therfore you may not get covered

Awwwe I am sorry about raining on your parade as I can see that you are really wanting to do this job ,

The only thing I could suggest to you is to stick to the cutting styling side only or even do hair extensions and perhaps a barbering course ,
there are plenty of things you can do ,

but again if you are working in a salon with all that stuff around you then you may still be quite high risk and may not get cover ,

Allergies are very different from intolerance's ,
and you are playing Russian Roulette with Anaphylactic shock :smack:

Allergies can be very severe dangerous and life threatening , can come on very suddenly at anytime and without any warning....

So please face the reality and don't be lulled into a false sense of security just because your ok at the moment !!....
there are people who have had their hair coloured all their life who suddenly develop a severe Allergy ....
but you have a head start and have had a warning by your body .... not to go near anything at all that could trigger your Allergy off !....

I hope that didn't sound too harsh but felt you need to know the very real dangers :hug: x minky

Especially if Anaphylactic shock occurs very suddenly and out of the blue .... here's a link below

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&so...-43lCQ&usg=AFQjCNFbf1uw7SRoIbui89rgwi3mD6O3XA

 

[julieanne27uk]

Hi,
Thanks for your replies. I don't think that I explained my condition correctly in my thread, sorry! I fully agree with your comments that someone with a genuine allergy to PPD shouldn't go anywhere near hair colouring.

My reason for seeming a little wreckless with my health is that I did consult my Doctor with regards to the reaction when it first happened ten years ago. He diagnosed irritant contact dermatitis, not allergic contact dermatitis. I had hair dye on my skin for over three weeks, which he said would cause a reaction in anyone whether they were allergic or not. It is not the normal way that people develop an intolerance to hair dye and he said it was quite unusual. I was concerned about breathing difficulties and Anaphylactic shock etc as I regularly had my hair coloured but as I don't have a true allergy he said I'm no more likely to suffer those symptoms than someone who has never had a reaction at all. His advice was to keep colour off my skin and wash it off straight away if it advertantly gets on it, colouring my hair is fine as long as it is foils. I would not needlessly put either my own health or my sisters business at risk if I was not fully informed about my skin condition.

My intention was not to become a fulltime hairdresser as I am primarily a nail technician which I love doing. If i was to gain any qualification and work in the salon, I would not be doing colours. I mentioned that I have washed out tint bowls etc but this is on reflection a rare occurance. My concern was not about working in the salon with colours as that is managable within the constraints of the condition I have, but more about if a college would let me on a training course when I have an intolerance to colour.

Thank you for your honest replies:hug:, all of which I have taken on board and I hope that I have reassured everyone that I'm not about to take my life in my hands.

Julie xx