Question for hair dressers

[ilovelonghair]

Two days ago I was in a shop that is part of a salon, I was looking for Manic Panic and while I was looking I smelled the typical chemicals you often smell at hair dressing salons. I was wondering how hair dressers deal with that smell. I assume you get used to it, but is it bad for you hair dressers to be inhaling that daily? Would it cause asthma-like problems?

[Dragon]

I use to work at a salon 1 day a week. You get use to it. Probaly not good for your health inhaling it all day. It never triggered my asthma.

[kwaniesiam]

You do get used to it, and it's not nearly as harmful these days as it was in the past. I have asthma and have never had a problem. Most salons have extremely good ventilation systems to suck the majority of the chemicals out of the air. While the smell lingers it's not that bad for you. Perms will always be the worst but even those aren't as bad as they used to be. I'd be more worried about construction workers that have to deal with particles in the air as well as smoke from construction equipment and the smell of tar and such.

[Dreams_in_Pink]

I'm not a hairdresser, but once i heard on tv that hairdressing was one of the risky jobs for health.

It's not just bleach and dye, think about relaxers and brazilian keratin treatment :(

[longblondetan]

I am a hair dresser, it's not as bad to inhale them as it is to handle them without gloves.

[ScarlettAdelle]

It's really never bothered me much. In my salon we have a window directly above us at the top of a sloped celing with excellent ventilation.

The most offensive smell I can think of would be the perm smell. Some perms smell worse than others, and honestly, when you're doing so many a week, and around even more, you really stop noticing it... None of the girls I work with have breathing or health problems as a result of being around the chemicals so far as I know. Most of their health problems are back, joint or muscle problems as a result of long hours standing in heels while leaning/bending and using tools/work stations that aren't ergonomically correct. Whoever said "beauty is pain" must have been a hairdresser.

I would like to second longblondtan's comment about glovelessness.

[lippleyluv]

I have a good friend that was a stylist for more than ten years. She developed some severe breathing problems and had to quit. Once she did, her problems improved significantly. Bummer for me, I had to find a new sylist---that was hard. And scary.

[ilovelonghair]

I agree that perm is the grossest smell! I never see hairdressers wear gloves, why is that?