Is there something wrong with your eyes when you dye your own hair at home? “Retina damaged and blurry”

A case has been reported of a woman who developed temporary retinopathy symptoms after dyeing her hair at home.

A case was recently reported in JAMA Ophthalmology of an anonymous 61-year-old French woman with no history of vision problems who visited a hospital several days after dyeing her hair with a dye containing aromatic amines because her vision in both eyes was gradually becoming blurry. The aromatic amine component of the dye she used was paraphenylenediamine. Paraphenylenediamine is a widely used ingredient in hair dyes and is known to cause allergic reactions.

The examination revealed that the woman had multiple retinal detachments in her eyes, similar to the damage that can occur in retinopathy. She also showed signs of thickening of the sensory retina. The retina is a thin layer of cells that covers the innermost part of the eyeball and sends signals to the brain in response to light, allowing us to see. Retinopathy is a disease that occurs when the blood vessels in the retina are damaged.

Tests were performed to rule out several possible causes, including infections and cancer, and the researchers diagnosed the retinal damage as being caused by the dye component, based on a temporal link between the symptoms and exposure to the dye.

The woman soon switched to a hair dye that did not contain paraphenylenediamine, and her vision returned to normal within a month. According to the medical team, four years later, the patient reported that her symptoms had not recurred since she switched to a hair dye that did not contain aromatic amines.

The medical team speculated that aromatic amine chemicals such as paraphenylenediamine could disrupt neurochemical pathways essential for the health of retinal pigment epithelial cells. “Although cases of retinopathy associated with the use of aromatic amine hair dyes are rare, medical professionals should be alert to the possibility in people who present with retinopathy symptoms that cannot be easily explained,” they said.

The medical team pointed out that this is not the first time that a link has been suggested between hair dye and retinopathy. In 2022, three cases involving middle-aged women who used hair dye containing aromatic amines were reported.

Meanwhile, the UK’s NHS (National Health Service) emphasizes that products containing paraphenylenediamine can be used safely because the allowable level of paraphenylenediamine in hair dyes is strictly controlled. It also points out that most reactions to paraphenylenediamine are due to not following the instructions for using the hair dye or accidentally using too much. The report does not state whether the woman in this case used the product correctly.