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The Claimant had attended the Defendant for a hair lightening treatment. Her hair was permanently dyed a dark brown in colour and approximately 18 inches in length. It was the Claimant's first visit to the Defendant's salon, excepting the previous week when she had attended for a skin test to see if the product to be used was suitable for her skin.

The Defendant used bleach and applied it with foils to the Claimant's hair so that specific sections of her hair could be isolated for lightening to a blond. The application was repeated 4 times and left on the Claimant's hair for a total of 6 hours using a heated appliance to assist development of the bleach!

During the processing of the bleach, the Claimant's scalp began to itch and burn. The Defendant gave her a metal comb to scratch her scalp with!

The resultant colour from the treatment was an uneven ginger tone. The majority of the bleached hair fell out within a week or so. Within a few weeks the Claimant's dark brown hair began to fall also due to the stress. This condition is known as Telogen Effluvium. The Claimant had also suffered second-degree burns to her scalp.

It would take approximately 36 months before the Claimant's hair returned to the length and condition it was prior to the incident and her scalp may remain sensitised to further chemical treatments.

I found that the Defendant did not exercise the required standard of care and skill and that the Defendant showed a lack of concern for the safety and welfare of the Claimant. Thus the Claimant's injuries were a direct result of the actions taken by the Defendant.

Road Traffic Accident

The Claimant was involved in a road traffic accident and suffered from whiplash. This accident caused both physical pain and emotional shock.

Within one month of the RTA, the Claimant noticed and increased shedding of his hair. It soon became diffusely very thin around the frontal and crown regions of his scalp.

Telogen Effluvium was a direct result of the incident. On this occasion, his condition could take between 4 and 12 months to fully resolve.

At the time of examination, some 5 months later, the Claimant's hair loss had already recovered and his hair was growing normally once again. As hair grows at a rate of approximately 1.25cms per month, it would take around 4 months for his hair to reach the length it was prior to the RTA.

Accidental Alopecia

On the day of the incident, the Claimant went to the swimming baths with her partner and son. In order to catch them up in the rapids area, she raised her upper body out of the water to lunge forward into the water again. As she did so she hit her head on the underside of a very low footbridge, which was spanning the width of the rapids.

The Claimant sustained significant injury to her scalp and required hospital treatment for stitches to the wound. It caused a deep laceration with a flap of skin that lifted up from her scalp.

The wound was severe and deep enough to cause permanent damage to the area. The wound has healed into cicatricial tissue, which measures 5cms in length and 2mm to 4mm in width. The hair follicles in this area are permanently damaged and will not produce hairs again. The scar is extremely visible being in a very prominent position on her scalp and given the naturally fine texture of her hair.

The Claimant senses the feeling of a 'tight band' around her forehead since the incident. A wound so deep may cause damage to the Epicranius thus causing it to go into spasm and contract drawing in the Galea Aponeurotica across the scalp surface so producing the 'tight' feeling, which the Claimant is describing. Severe damage to the Galea Aponeurotica may cause this sheet of fibrous tissue to shorten somewhat due to scarring and produce the same sensation.

Since the incident, to the time of drafting the report, the Claimant has suffered from recurrent headaches and migraines, which at times have been so severe as to cause nausea. It is not unusual for a severe blow to the head to cause such symptoms as described in this paragraph, however these symptoms are outside of my field of expertise.