Elderly women can suffer stroke symptoms if their necks are subjected to extreme stretching or side-to-side movements when they get shampoos at beauty parlors, a doctor warns.
"As people grow older, conditions like hardening of the arteries and arthritis, along with a host of other medical conditions, make it important that the neck not be hyperextended or manipulated beyond limited ranges," said Michael I. Weintraub, a New York Medical College neurologist.Weintraub discussed "beauty parlor stroke syndrome" during the American Academy of Neurology's recent convention in San Diego.
He surveyed 25 women who had suffered transient ischemic attacks, also called "ministrokes," which have milder symptoms than full-fledged strokes. Eighteen of the women said they got symptoms when their necks were stretched excessively. Five got such symptoms when their heads were moved too much from side to side.
Weintraub said such movements can prompt stroke symptoms by injuring arteries that provide blood to the brain.
Older women should tell their beauticians and dentists that they prefer not to have their head in a stretched-out or hanging position and that the neck shouldn't be rotated from side to side.