A horror reaction to hair dye has given a man a giant ‘balloon head’ and left him looking like cartoon character ‘Megamind’.
Ryan Briggs, from Blackburn, Lancashire, said his head swelled so much his girlfriend couldn’t even look at him.
Shocking photos show how the 27-year-old’s reaction to the application of black hair dye progressed from a rash to swelling on his scalp, before spreading to his entire face.
Seeking medical help, doctors eventually prescribed her a course of 25 pills a day to control the incredible swelling.
Mr Briggs’ ordeal began late last month, on July 27, when his mother bought him some black hair dye to cover some new grey hairs.
Ryan Briggs, from Blackburn, Lancashire, originally thought a nasty rash was the worst thing he could get from hair dye that didn’t suit his scalp.
However, it was just the beginning of an allergic reaction to an ingredient in hair dye that left the 27-year-old with a gradually swelling head.
But this was not the worst, as the reaction eventually spread to the gas fitter’s face, affecting his ability to see.
The gas fitter then applied the formula to his scalp, but without performing the recommended patch test to see how his skin would react.
Mr Briggs said he felt a burning sensation but assumed it was normal and then went to sleep.
A few hours later, he woke up to find that a scaly rash had developed around his hairline.
Assuming the unfortunate reaction was the worst, he headed back to work as normal.
However, he was horrified to see that his head began to expand throughout the day, leaving him with an incredibly itchy “balloon head”.
After his colleagues sent him home, he went to the hospital where doctors told him to return the next day if the reaction worsened, much to the horror of his girlfriend who “couldn’t even look at him”.
Unfortunately the swelling continued and the reaction spread to his face, causing such disfigurement that he was unable to open one of his eyes.
Ambulance medics took him back to hospital and told him he had suffered a reaction to paraphenylenediamine, a chemical commonly found in hair dyes.
Recalling his ordeal, Mr Briggs said: “I really should have had a patch test but I didn’t know I needed to.”
“I applied the dye and it burned a little bit, but I thought that was what happened. Obviously it wasn’t.”
“The next day I woke up with a small rash. It wasn’t that bad, but throughout the day my head started to expand.”
He added: “My colleagues told me: ‘You have to go to the hospital.'”
“I didn’t look like myself at all. I was horrible. I was huge. I looked like Megamind.
‘I went to the hospital and they sent me home and told me if it got worse to come back the next day.
‘I came home and my girlfriend was stunned, she couldn’t look at me because I didn’t look like myself, I had a huge, balloon-shaped head.’
The next day, Mr. Briggs returned to the hospital where doctors monitored him for 13 hours.
Doctors had to make sure the swelling did not reach his neck or, seriously, his airways, before discharging him.
Mr Briggs described the initial inflation of his head as making him look similar to the animated film character Megamind.
As the day progressed, Mr Briggs said his swollen head became so severe it left his girlfriend “unable to even look at him”.
Mr Briggs would eventually have to spend more than 13 hours in hospital because doctors were concerned the reaction in his neck could affect his ability to breathe.
“I called 111 and asked for an ambulance to come and get me because I obviously couldn’t drive because I couldn’t see,” she said.
He had to take a series of 25 pills a day for the next five days to control the reaction.
Mr Briggs said he hoped a night’s rest on the day of the initial reaction would have calmed her.
“I thought I would wake up and it would be gone, but I woke up and it was totally different,” she said.
‘When I looked in the mirror that morning I didn’t know what to think.
“I called 111 and asked for an ambulance to come and get me because I obviously couldn’t drive because I couldn’t see.”
Despite his Megamind head being behind him, Mr Briggs says he was left with scabs on his scalp and warns other Brits looking to remove stubborn greys to always do a patch test first.
“My scalp is full of yellow and green scabs, but my face is now back to normal,” she said.
‘Always do a patch test. It could have been worse, it was getting to my neck and all that.
She now warns others to avoid the same fate and to always do a patch test before applying hair dye.
“I’m glad it’s over now, but I’ll definitely be doing a patch test, a million percent.”
The NHS advises people to always carry out a patch test before using permanent or semi-permanent hair dye, “even if they use their usual brand”.
The health service warns that many permanent and some semi-permanent hair dyes contain paraphenylenediamine, which the NHS describes as a “known irritant and allergen” and levels are often higher in darker dyes.
