Panic during hair dying!

[ilikepandas]

Hello everyone!

I was wondering if I could get a little advice?

I've been dying my hair regularly for years, but the last time I had my hair dyed I realised that I hadn't done the skin test and I think that flipped me into panic mode and I convinced myself that I was having a really bad reaction and that I was going to die, even though I clearly wasn't.

After that I haven't dyed my hair for months from the fear of it happening again...

I recently booked an appointment at the hairdressers and went in for a skin test and it was all fine until I remembered the last time and the fear rose up again.

I'm due to go in tomorrow and I'm heaps nervous... Not just because of the dye but because of the situation as well - last time I had been at home and was able to run to the bathroom/go outside for air/flap about the house panicking whilst my boyfriend told me I was fine - but this time I'll be in a hairdressers where I perhaps don't have that luxury :')

I now have the fear that I'll freak out, and in public my panic turns into an insane fear that I'm going to wet myself.

I feel this is something I shouldn't avoid (and because my roots are now many inches long!).

I was just hoping for a little advice maybe?

Thank you for reading!

[Lucinda07]

Perhaps you could mention this beforehand to the hairdresser. (I'm sure someone in the salon has had to soothe a customer about hair colour fears.)
I once felt anxious after a treatment & my hairdresser rewashed my hair & treated it as no big deal. Very professional.
I would advise not drinking much & going to the loo before your appointment!You can always visit the loo at the salon. Hope things go well for you

[Pepperpot]

I feel your pain - last year I developed this irrational fear too - it was so bad that I had horrific roots on my wedding day :(
I dont know where this came from as for years I bleach my hair and put lots of different colour dyes on. Anyway, since this I make sure I do an allergy test. If you have had an allergy test, YOU WILL BE FINE. Honestly, you will. Take some magazines in with you to distract you and a bottle of water x

[Worried1234]

Oh my God this happened to me a month or so back!! I was sat there all happily with a book having a nice relaxing time when suddenly my head went all cold and tight feeling (which I now realise is a symptom of panic attack!). My heart started racing and all I could think was 'I'm in a hairdresser-they won't know what to do if I collapse!'. Fortunately the colourist saw I wasn't right and went to get me water and biscuits for low blood sugar as they thought I was going to faint. It passed after a while but ruined what should have been an enjoyable 2 hours out of the house.

Next time I go I'm going to remind myself that I've had the dye multiple times and would have had a reaction by now if I was allergic. Also there is a doctor surgery down the street so I know if anything happened I could ask them to run and get a doc in an emergency!

Short of that many hair salons do wine these days - I shouldn't recommend that as it's a stimulant, but I find it often relaxes me (too much sometimes )

[misslove]

i used to be a hair dresser. I wouldn't worry about a reaction if you do the skin test. As long as you go to a good stylist you'll be fine. What usually causes the irritation when coloring your hair is washing and styling your hair before your appointment. Don't wash your hair that day and brush it lightly.

[ilikepandas]

Hello everyone!

I'd just like to say thank you for all the advice.

The dreaded appointment was today and I'd like to share some little things that helped me out during.

-It sounds silly, but when the hairdresser put the balm thing round my hair line I started to panic just from the smell, but from then on out I breathed through my mouth and couldn't smell the dye as much, and this seemed to help a LOT.

-Also, eavesdropping on the other conversations in the doom was also really distracting and eased the tension a bit - this might not be the most polite thing to do but it really did stop my mind from panicking about the dye.

The appointment went all in all well - as predicted I was absolutely FINE!

Thank you everyone once again for the helpful advice xx

[misslove]

Glad it went well! I haven't colored my hair in 10 plus years! I totally fried it like bacon when I was in beauty school so I don't want to mess with it until the grays start coming lol