Hairdressing: Marie's story

Case study: Marie

Sector : Hairdressing

Condition: Irritant contact dermatitis

Marie has worked in hairdressing for over 13 years, starting her career as a 'Saturday girl'. She first noticed problems with her skin at an early stage as she spent every Saturday shampooing, washing off colours, neutralising perms and cleaning the salon.

Marie has enjoyed a very successful career working in numerous salons, including ones on cruise ships. Her GP and dermatologist suggested she gave up hairdressing altogether, to give herself the best opportunity to clear her skin, but this was never an option as she loved the industry too much and was determined to stick it out. However, when she was considering making a change in her career, her dermatitis was definitely a factor in her decision. Marie decided to go into teaching and one of her key reasons for this change was that she knew that she would reduce her exposure significantly and could therefore be free of the constant pain she was subjecting herself to while hairdressing.

Marie is keen for others to learn from her experience, 'I would advise all hairdressers to look after the most precious tool they have, which is their hands. Never carry out any chemical treatment without wearing gloves and always moisturise your hands at break times and at the end of the working day. Also wear gloves outside in winter to protect your hands from the cold weather.'

Link URLs in this page

  1. Skin at workhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/index.htm
  2. Overview - Employers, employees and traineeshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/index.htm
  3. Overview - What are work-related skin diseases?https://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/whatare.htm
  4. Dermatitishttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/dermatitis.htm
  5. Urticariahttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/urticaria.htm
  6. Skin cancerhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/cancer.htm
  7. Sun exposurehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/sunprotect.htm
  8. Overview - Latex allergieshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/latex.htm
  9. Selecting latex gloveshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/latex-gloves.htm
  10. How does exposure happen?https://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/exposure.htm
  11. Overview - How can they be prevented?https://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/prevention.htm
  12. Gloveshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/gloves.htm
  13. High-risk jobshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/highrisk/index.htm
  14. What does the law say?https://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/law.htm
  15. Overview - H&S and medical professionalshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/index.htm
  16. Overview - Causes of skin diseasehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/index.htm
  17. Causes of Contact dermatitishttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/dermatitis.htm
  18. Causes of Contact urticariahttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/urticaria.htm
  19. Causes of Acneshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/acnes.htm
  20. Causes of Cancershttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/cancers.htm
  21. Causes of Leucoderma (Vitiligo)https://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/leucoderma.htm
  22. Structure and functions of the skinhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/structure.htm
  23. Skin infectionshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/infections.htm
  24. Overview - Causative agentshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/agents.htm
  25. Skin irritants and sensitisershttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/agentstable1.htm
  26. Causes of contact urticariahttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/agentstable2.htm
  27. Agents that cause skin cancerhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/agentstable3.htm
  28. Managing exposure riskshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/managerisk.htm
  29. Legal requirementshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/legal.htm
  30. Information for inspectorshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/inspectors.htm
  31. Training resourceshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/trainingresources.htm
  32. Overview - Resourceshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/information.htm
  33. Publicationshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/publications.htm
  34. Postershttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/posters.htm
  35. Overview - Case studieshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/index.htm
  36. Photographic chemicalshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/photographic.htm
  37. Tiler: Ted's storyhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/tiler.htm
  38. Hairdressing: Maxine's storyhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/hairdressers.htm
  39. Hairdressing: Julie's storyhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/julie-hair.htm
  40. Hairdressing: Marie's storyhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/marie-hair.htm
  41. Latex allergies - Nursinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/alison-nursing.htm
  42. Latex allergies - Radiographyhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/pip-radiographer.htm
  43. Latex allergies - Dental practicehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/julie-dental.htm
  44. Catering industryhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/catering.htm
  45. Meat processinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/meatprocessing.htm
  46. Paint manufacturinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/paint.htm
  47. Fabric coaterhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/casestudies/fabric.htm
  48. Image galleryhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/imagelibrary.htm
  49. Statisticshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/statistics.htm
  50. Researchhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/research.htm
  51. Presentationshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/presentations.htm
  52. Videoshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/videos.htm
  53. Linkshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/links.htm
  54. Overview - FAQshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/faq/index.htm
  55. General questionshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/faq/general.htm
  56. Hairdressing FAQhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/faq/hairdressing.htm
  57. Catering FAQhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/faq/catering.htm
  58. Cleaning FAQhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/faq/cleaning.htm
  59. Dental practice FAQhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/faq/dental.htm
  60. Skin checks for dermatitis (Free poster)https://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/assets/docs/skindermatitis.pdf
  61. Keep your top on: INDG 147https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg147.pdf
  62. COSHH Essentialshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/coshh/index.htm
  63. HSE Bookshttps://books.hse.gov.uk/
  64. The National Eczema Societyhttp://www.eczema.org/
  65. Cateringhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/catering/index.htm
  66. Constructionhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/index.htm
  67. COSHHhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/coshh/index.htm
  68. Health serviceshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/healthservices/index.htm
  69. Printinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/printing/index.htm

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Updated 2021-05-04