Woman left with horrifying 'chemical burns' and huge bald patch after getting hair bleached

06.05.2022 - 14:25 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk

A beauty fanatic claims she was left with horrifying chemical burns and needing a skin graft on her head after getting her hair bleached. Ellie Swain was left with a permanent bald batch after booking scalp treatment to lighten her brunette hair.

The 24-year-old claims she began to feel a burning sensation on her head just ten minutes after the bleach had been applied at a beauty salon in May 2021. Days later her scalp blistered and began oozing pus and she claims she was told she had suffered serious 'chemical' burns.

She was forced to have half of her head shaved off, and horrifying photos show a skin graft which was needed from her thigh to replace dead skin on the back of her head. The travel worker is now forced to wear extensions for the rest of her life to hide the bald patch, which measures ten by seven centimetres.

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Ellie said: "About three or four days after [getting my scalp bleached] my scalp started to blister and it was oozing with puss. I went to the doctors and was prescribed antibiotics because I had an infection. I just thought hopefully the antibiotics will kick in and it will be okay.

"About a week passed and then my head basically began to turn black and I started to lose feeling, it was really numb. I went to A&E and they were trying to clean the area because my hair was basically matted to the burn. I don't think they could really see the severity of the burn because my hair was stuck to it and I didn't want to have it shaved off so they prescribed more antibiotics."

A couple of days later, Ellie claims her head was "pouring blood" and she was beginning to lose her hair so called 111. She says she was informed