To find hair salon wash basins so uncomfortable?!

[Butterfly98]

Like most people I love to have my hair done every 6 weeks or so. The only problem is I find the wash basin so uncomfortable that the back and sides of my neck are sore for about 5 days afterwards! Particularly when I'm having colour and highlights as I'm leaning backwards for so long having it all rinsed off and then washed! I'm just over 5ft tall and I have to stretch so much that my feet are hardly touching the floor! Would a foot rest help? Do other's have this problem or is it just me?! My hairdresser said she hasn't come across this before which I find hard to believe!

Yes, I agree with you, OP. About 20 years ago I remember reading about various problems caused to people by them. I try and have a dry cut if possible!

My salon has adjustable sinks and seats and a neck rest thing for the sink- would be very uncomfortable without them. Any way you could have a forward wash or not possible with the sink layout?

I think they are better if you can lie down - both the hair salons I go to have chairs that they can tip up so that you are horizontal (one also has a back massager on the chair). Otherwise they are really uncomfortable.

My hairdresser said she hasn't come across this before which I find hard to believe So do I!

Me too, although I have the opposite problem because I'm tall. I usually have to pull the chair away from the sink a little, although obviously that would make it worse for you.

Today agree. I only ever go for a dry cut.

@user1471592953 yes I remember reading a story a few years ago about a woman who suffered a stroke after leaning backwards for longer than usual at the hairdressers wash basin. Apparently it damaged an artery in her neck. It even has its own name and is called Beauty Parlour Syndrome so it must happen more often than we're lead to believe.

@Butterfly98 i read that too and I always think of that woman when I'm contorting myself to get my hair washed.

For me those sinks are vertigo inducing whether leaning forwards or backwards. It's a right pain, and vertigo is not pretty either.

I've just let my hair grow and chop it myself and put it up every day so far. I am a slob, but nothing is worth a vertigo attack ever!

Will try for a dry cut soon, but I don't think it will work well with the length and general chopiness from a home butchering! There's an old lady style hairdresser up the road. Might ask if I can wash my hair in the shower, and they can cut it when I get there or something!

Yes I do, I now only have a dry cut.

They should be cushioned (a bit like toddler loo seats). Waterproof, easily changed.

I can't do it as I have issues with the nerves in my neck. I use a mobile hairdresser and jump in the shower to wash my hair before she arrives.

Yeah I find them really uncomfortable too. Totally flawed design. I don't know why they don't use a foam U shape to cushion people's necks

No, I find it uncomfortable as well. The last time I went I had a sore, stiff neck for a few days afterwards, which Im sure was linked. I don't know why you can't just lean over them? My DM has a mobile hairdresser who does it this way, doesn't seem to be a problem?

a story a few years ago about a woman who suffered a stroke after leaning backwards for longer than usual at the hairdressers wash basin

First thing that came to my mind when I read your post.

@kinsss, I have a dry cut because of psoriasis and don’t want to risk reacting to an unknown product. Some hairdressers will damp down your hair with a spray bottle which works well and I’ve had some straighten my hair before cutting which came out ok. Ask for either of those (the straightening may come with a price tag) but they both seem to give better results than a straight dry cut.

@BlaueLagune I haven't seen those horizontal chairs before but they sound ideal for someone like me! Your salons sound top notch! I've though about asking to stand and lean forwards but I don't know how that would work with rinsing off colour?

I bet the hairdresser hasn't heard of it before because people are too polite to say so. It's that British thing isn't it? They say are you alright and you say yes fine. I find the same but wondered if it was because I'm so tall and have to sit so far forward in the chair. I don't get my hair dyed though so only have to endure it for a wash.

@Manonblackbeak Yes I should really ask to lean forward but although she's a good hairdresser she's very judgmental. I once overheard her criticising a customer after she'd left who asked to lean forward and it's put me off her since. Basically there's a bus stop directly outside the salon where passengers can see right in if they're on the bus. She was more concerned about passengers thinking she was dumb and backwards who didn't know how to use the wash basin properly than her customers comfort!

If I am going for a cut and finish only, I sometimes wash and condition my hair at home then all the hairdresser has to do is use the spray bottle to re wet the hair before cutting. Obviously , if it's roots or highlights then that won't be possible.I agree, for us shorties, it can be very uncomfortable.

I always find it amusing when friends say they love having their head massaged and hair washed at the hairdressers so much that they almost fall asleep! With me though I compare that bit to being at the dentist and can't get off the chair quick enough!

I find them very uncomfortable too. Maybe no ones mentioned it to her before but I think it is fairly common

omg yes i hate this, i am always verging on having a panic attack as i sit there.

I am just under 5ft and have the same problem. I can't really reach the floor either.

I take paracetamol or Nurophen before I go to the hairdressers or I wash at home and go with wet hair.

Since I have been doing exercises for a bad back the situation has got a little better so I think it was partly my posture.

I also changed hairdressers and the new one has a chair which has a built in footrest (think of those electric recliner armchair things) which does help a lot as I can scoot up into a better position.

It's tough being short sometimes!

Very uncomfortable OP. Better when they have rubber neck supports

I used to have the exact same problem until I made sure I pulled the towel right up to the back of my neck, rolled up a bit so I had plenty of padding around my neck. Try that. I don't get any pain afterwards now since doing this

A few local hairdressers have a block that my small child sits on to get her hair washed at the hairdressers so she reaches the sink. Can you ask to use something like that so you are taller in the seat before you have to try and reach the sink?

I am 5’10 and I don’t find them comfy, I change hairdressers frequently and some are better than others but none are restful.

I pretty much hate everything about getting my haircut.