Hair Dye Allergy and Painful Swelling?!

[nataboo9]

Hi,
I just dyed my hair the other day at an Aveda salon. My hair line is extremely swollen and painful and the glands behind my ears are as well. They are sore to the touch and honestly kind of lumpy! -- am I in any danger? Will this just go away? Should I be worried? It's been about 48 hours since I dyed my hair.
Thanks!

[JKTEW]

I am pretty sure that I too have developed an allergy to hair dye.  I have colored my brown hair at the salon and at home with semi and permanet color for about 20 years now.  I am 49.  When I was younger, it was more for fun and then to cover the gray as I got older.  I started noticing that I was itchy and warm while it was on my head.  It never burned and I never developed blisters.  However, what is strange about me is that it seems to affect my throat (and ear ) only on the left side and this is freaking me out.  It feels like my throat is swelling and like it's traveling up to my ear but only on the left side.

I did a patch test today of Madison Reed hair color which has no PPD and within 40 minutes I started to get the off uncomfortable feeling in my throat but no skin reaction on my arm.  I took a Benadryl and my throat got much better but still a little strange.  

Has anyone else had this type of reaction?

[Poetsmoon]

Foot note*

A few symptoms I forgot to include: heart palpitations and irregular heart beat, racing at times. A general feeling of malaise and lack of energy. Overall, I just haven't felt very well for the last six months.

I am also taking Claritin which does help somewhat, not to mention, helps me sleep.

[Poetsmoon]

Hey everyone - I know first hand the misery of the PPD allergic reaction. I have blonde hair and have had a shocking pink under-layer for a couple of years...no problems there. But then I decided I wanted a black layer, under the pink. I started doing that in November of 2014. I was stupid and didn't do a patch test. I didn't take the warnings seriously and now feel like an idiot. Around the same time, I got a tattoo on my neck. A few weeks later, there were red bumps at the tattoo site but I didn't really think too much about it and they eventually went away. Shortly thereafter, I noticed hive-like lesions on the back of my neck. I thought maybe it was eczema so I treated it as such. But I started to get them elsewhere on my body, along with measle-like patches and areas of tiny, raised bumps. My ears swelled to twice their normal size and oozed constantly. Also, all of the glands in my neck and on the back of my head were swollen and tender. I realized then, that something serious was going on that had nothing to do with eczema and went to the doctor. He did a culture of the oozing liquid and determined I had a staph/strep infection (which I now realize was secondary to the real problem). I took two antibiotics for 10 days, had antibiotic injections and took some herbal remedies as well. He also prescribed an oral steroid regimen but the very first dose made me so ill, I didn't take any more of them. He then referred me to a dermatologist who prescribed a heavy duty steroid ointment. This helped my ears get somewhat back to normal and even started to clear the hive-like lesions and rashy patches. 'Okay', I thought, 'it's finally going to go away'. It took two months to get to that point but I was optimistic. Then just yesterday afternoon, I decided it was time to re-do the pink and black layers in my hair. Within an hour or so of dyeing and rinsing and styling, my scalp started to swell and ooze like crazy, and ONLY IN THE BLACK-DYED LOCATIONS. I decided to research and found out about PPD, and then eventually, found this forum. I was shocked to read everyone's symptoms that were EXACTLY like mine. Now I know what the initial problem was. Maybe I did develop a secondary staph/strep infection but that was not the basis of the problem. It was the dye. I used Splat Jet Black, just fyi. Even though I am miserable today, I feel better now that I know what the real problem was, that started late last year. I am in my sixth month of this horror and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I am going to try to lift some of the black by using the Dawn dish soap/dandruff shampoo method and hope that relieves some of the symptoms. I can't bring myself to cut it off so I guess I'll just have to suffer until it grows out. Thanks to all of you that posted here. It helped me immensely, and even though I am sorry you have/are experiencing what I am, it's comforting to know I am not alone. Hugs to all.

[seashelleybell71]

Update; It's now been 11 weeks since I had my hair dye reaction. In the end after 2 visits to the doctors and hospital I ended up in hospital for 5 days. Once in hospital only then did the medication and creams etc they give me start to work. I've been out of hospital for about 7 weeks and I still have lumps on my head. My whole body itches still and now when I scratch too hard I'm getting bruised. My legs look like I've been battered as they itch the worst. Off to the docs on Tuesday to see if he can help.

[Seuko]

I have gone thru 2 rounds of prednisone and the rash us still crawling up in my hairline.  It has been all over my shoulders and back.  It has Ben 3 months now and still hanging on

[seashelleybell71]

I had my hair dyed nearly 2 weeks ago by my regular hairdresser who comes out to my home. She used the same stuff she always uses but. OMG I'm having a really bad allergic reaction and I'm still getting symptoms coming on me now. My head is literally covered in lumps, my ears are burn't and weeping, I have a rash on my chest. Now my eyes are starting to swell, I'm getting pins and needles all over my body, and my whole body is aching and I'm getting dizzy spells. What makes it worse is I already suffer from Vertigo and get panic attacks so all this is making me panic. Went to my docs yesterday and all she gave me was Certriline one a day and Fluxocillan 3 times a day for an ear infection I have. But nothing for my weeping ears, or rash or to ease my scalp etc. Do I phone the 111 helpline as I'm getting worse by the minute. Any replies would be really appreciated. Thanks.