A physician at Taiwan Adventist Hospital yesterday said that people should avoid using hair color products containing paraphenylenediamine (PPD) and remember not to dye their hair too frequently as it can cause scalp damage.
Cheung Kei-cheung (張祺璋), a physician at the hospital’s scalp clinic, said that about 80 percent of the clinic’s patients have dyed their hair at least once before, adding that among them, 90 percent are people older than 50.
He said that many middle-aged or elderly people dye their hair every two to four weeks to cover up grey hair, and that they often buy DIY hair color products.
Cheung said that the number of patients suffering from hair loss or scalp inflammation has increased because some of them do not know about the hair products they use or how to dye their own hair.
Citing a few recent cases, Cheung said a man in his 50s sought medical advice after he used a hair color product that his daughter bought for him as a present, claiming that the product could be used for “washing hair and dyeing hair at the same time,” but resulted in scalp itchiness, pain and hair loss.
Another case was a women in her 60s, who lost a large proportion of her hair after dyeing it many times.
Cheung said common symptoms seen on these patients can range from mild irritation or itchiness in the scalp, to severe hair loss and baldness.
He said people should avoid using hair color products that contain PPD, because it might trigger severe allergic reactions, and studies from other countries have shown the use of these products might be linked with higher prevalence of lymphoma and bladder cancer.
In addition to PPD, Cheung advised people not to dye their hair too frequently, choose hair color products made with more natural herbal ingredients, and to apply Vaseline or oil-based products on the scalp, forehead, ears and neck before applying hair dye, to avoid direct contact with skin.
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