A Clinical and Dermoscopic Study of Pigmentary Changes in Hair Dye Users and Its Correlation with Patch Testing – A Hospital based Cross Sectional Study
Abstract
Hair dyes contain various allergens which have the potential to cause allergic/irritant contact dermatitis. In the following study, non-invasive diagnostic modalities like dermoscopy and patch testing has been done to evaluate the pigmentary changes in hair dye users.
Methodology: This cross-sectional study was implemented at a tertiary care hospital in South India. The consented participants were interviewed using a standardized questionnaire followed by a dermoscopic examination of the lesion was done using dermlite DL4 (3rd generation) and patch testing with a hair dye series.
Results: The majority of the patients were in their mid-forties with a slight male preponderance. Fifty-three percent of the participants gave a history of usage of hair dye for more than 5 years and 58.1% used hair dyes more than once in a month. The most common sites affected were the forehead and temple (40.2%). The most common dermoscopic finding was black dots and globules (45.3%). Of the 105 patients who were patch-tested, 96 patients (91.4%) had a positive reaction to single or multiple hair-dye allergens. Sixty-four patients (60.95%) were allergic to PPD 1% and a majority of the patients (85.7%) showed 1+ reaction according to ICDRG grading. Patch testing along with dermoscopic examination had a high negative predictive value of 85.7%.
Conclusion: Most of the patients presented to hospital only after the pigmentation was more visible and bothersome after prolonged periods of usage of hair-dyes. There is paucity of studies showing the various dermoscopic patterns observed with pigmentation caused by hair dyes which have been described in this study. Patch testing with hairdresser series can be advised to patients before usage of hair dyes to avoid pigmentation and other side effects.
Letters in High Energy Physics (LHEP) is an open access journal. The articles in LHEP are distributed according to the terms of the creative commons license CC-BY 4.0. Under the terms of this license, copyright is retained by the author while use, distribution and reproduction in any medium are permitted provided proper credit is given to original authors and sources.
Terms of Submission
By submitting an article for publication in LHEP, the submitting author asserts that:
1. The article presents original contributions by the author(s) which have not been published previously in a peer-reviewed medium and are not subject to copyright protection.
2. The co-authors of the article, if any, as well as any institution whose approval is required, agree to the publication of the article in LHEP.
