A woman suffered kidney damage following a hair-straightening treatment at a salon, as documented in The New England Journal of Medicine.
The case report, which maintains the woman’s anonymity, details the medical observations.
According to one of the attending physicians, a product used during the hair treatment likely caused the organ injuries.
The 26-year-old woman underwent the popular hair-straightening procedure at the salon in June 2020, April 2021, and July 2022.
Although the woman had no prior health concerns, she experienced vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and back pain after each treatment session.
During the procedures, she reported a burning sensation on her scalp and subsequently developed ulcers there.
Doctors noted kidney dysfunction when they detected elevated levels of creatinine in her blood. Further investigation revealed blood in her urine.
A CT scan showed no signs of infection or blockage in her kidneys.
The woman disclosed that the hair-straightening cream applied contained glyoxylic acid, which the doctors concluded likely caused the scalp burning and ulceration.
Based on experiments with mice, they theorized that the acid, absorbed through her skin, reached her kidneys and caused damage upon breakdown.
The medical report identified the woman as suffering from recurrent acute kidney injury due to oxalate nephropathy, a rare condition where calcium oxalate crystals accumulate in kidney tubules, leading to reduced kidney function.
The study underscores that glyoxylic acid in hair-straightening treatments may be accountable for such cases.
Dr. Joshua David King, an associate professor of medicine and pharmacy at the University of Maryland, expressed caution:
“It would seem wise to ban the use of glyoxylic acid in these products and request that manufacturers find another, safer compound.”
