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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Hair dressers sinks.

82 replies

Toddlerteaplease · 30/04/2023 20:23

Why on earth are they so uncomfortable! Why hasn't someone invented a more comfortable one? It can't be that difficult!

OP posts:
isthismylifenow · 30/04/2023 20:26

They are slightly better than they used to be when I was a youngster. But they still aren't great.

I always ask to have a towel placed first, as I'm long of neck and it helps a lot.

Wallsofglass · 30/04/2023 20:28

I was musing about this in a salon the other day. There seems to have been no real innovation in hairdressing in twenty years. Horrible sinks. 3 hours for highlights/ colour etc. Still such a faff with foils. I know the names of things have changed but essentially it’s all the same.

nofusspot · 30/04/2023 20:30

I read about someone having a stroke or something after using one and it scares me now

FeltedDogs · 30/04/2023 20:32

I'm so glad it's not just me. I have an irrational fear my head is going to fall off and keep jerking my neck to make sure it's still on 😀

mondaytosunday · 30/04/2023 20:47

Ugh they are the worst! I'm tall and have to scooch down all the time. Plus I have a low hairline at the back and never think they rinse my hair properly.

nofusspot · 30/04/2023 20:51

FeltedDogs · 30/04/2023 20:32

I'm so glad it's not just me. I have an irrational fear my head is going to fall off and keep jerking my neck to make sure it's still on 😀

It can trigger a deadly stroke.

Dunno what I'm meant to do though coz I still need a hair cut!

YellowDiamondInTheSky · 30/04/2023 20:53

Question…where do you look when in the chair? Eyes open or eyes closed…?

nofusspot · 30/04/2023 20:53

YellowDiamondInTheSky · 30/04/2023 20:53

Question…where do you look when in the chair? Eyes open or eyes closed…?

Closed but try not to look like I'm enjoying it too much. Which is easy because I'm not.

angelicaelizapeggy · 30/04/2023 20:55

I feel really claustrophobic in them!

I have a mobile hairdresser now.

Aslanplustwo · 30/04/2023 20:58

What is wrong with hairdressers' sinks? I've never had any problem with them, or found them uncomfortable? Genuine question, I'm just a bit baffled.

Sunraes · 30/04/2023 20:58

My hairdresser’s chair is nice, it’s a massage chair and very comfortable. And I have problems with my neck since being hit by a car. So there are definitely nice ones out there, but from I’ve heard they are not cheap so that is probably the reason.

Sunraes · 30/04/2023 20:59

Aslanplustwo · 30/04/2023 20:58

What is wrong with hairdressers' sinks? I've never had any problem with them, or found them uncomfortable? Genuine question, I'm just a bit baffled.

Same here. Never. 😅 But tbf I do go to an expensive hairdresser.

ThingsthatgoBumpintheDay · 30/04/2023 21:00

nofusspot · 30/04/2023 20:30

I read about someone having a stroke or something after using one and it scares me now

I read a story similar. This was a man. He sued the hairdressers. I didn’t even know that could happen. Apparently his neck was bent so badly it caused a stroke. Madness.

Nereides · 30/04/2023 21:01

I’ve also heard about these sinks causing strokes. The neck is over extended and it damages the nerves or arteries. I prefer to have my hair sprayed until damp and not washed. Safer and costs less!

Sunraes · 30/04/2023 21:04

My hairdresser includes hair massage when washing, and I’d have no problem it taking 30 min. My neck is not stretched. It’s comfortable.

IDontWantToBeAPie · 30/04/2023 21:07

Aslanplustwo · 30/04/2023 20:58

What is wrong with hairdressers' sinks? I've never had any problem with them, or found them uncomfortable? Genuine question, I'm just a bit baffled.

Having to put your neck in the hole bit. I've gone to expensive and cheap hairdressers and they're always uncomfortable - can't fully relax as you're holding your neck up, it digs into your nape.

The massage chair only tries to distract from the aching neck. Maybe it's neck anatomy making it uncomfortable.

Hullabalooza · 30/04/2023 21:07

I read an article about a woman who died after sitting at an uncomfortable hair washing sink. Her husband was telling her story, it was so sad. She’d complained to him afterwards that it was uncomfortable, this developed into some sort of embolism or stroke. I’m super wary of these now and have ditched hairdressers based on horrible sinks.

nofusspot · 30/04/2023 21:08

IDontWantToBeAPie · 30/04/2023 21:07

Having to put your neck in the hole bit. I've gone to expensive and cheap hairdressers and they're always uncomfortable - can't fully relax as you're holding your neck up, it digs into your nape.

The massage chair only tries to distract from the aching neck. Maybe it's neck anatomy making it uncomfortable.

Show quote history

Yes it's hard to be supported by your neck

woodhill · 30/04/2023 21:10

Yes I've often thought the same, so uncomfortable

Exaspa · 30/04/2023 21:15

I lived in the Far East for a couple of years and they had lovely chairs, even in very basic salons, that went flat so your neck wasn't tilted back over the sink. I've never enjoyed going to the hairdresser (plus I currently live in a part of the country where everyone either has poker straight hair to the middle of their back or an obligatory chin length bob, wavy for women under 40, poker straight for 50 to 90 year olds - I'm not joking, walk round any National Express site in Lancashire and you'll see it... anyway, it means nobody here has any clue what to do with a ladies pixie cut, I'm seriously contemplating going to a barber instead) but this really did help make the hair washing bit so much comfier. I've never come across these chairs in the UK.

Exaspa · 30/04/2023 21:15

National Trust not National Express. GAH.

CordyLines · 30/04/2023 21:16

Me, I'm that awkward person who has positional vertigo, wears hearing aids, and gets giddy if water goes in my ears. A hairdressers dream.

So I do my own colour, and wash my own hair before getting a cut. They are fine with that and spritz it instead. I think I'd pass out if had to use the neck sink. Nope.

Nanny0gg · 30/04/2023 21:23

Wallsofglass · 30/04/2023 20:28

I was musing about this in a salon the other day. There seems to have been no real innovation in hairdressing in twenty years. Horrible sinks. 3 hours for highlights/ colour etc. Still such a faff with foils. I know the names of things have changed but essentially it’s all the same.

Well, to be fair, chemistry is chemistry so unless they find different chemicals entirely I don't see how it can change

TheLostNights · 30/04/2023 21:25

I've had a migraine a few times after a hair wash at the hairdressers. Absolutely hate having my hair washed by them but so few places offer dry cuts now.

Yuasa · 30/04/2023 21:28

I’m short and have in the past had salon hair washes where my neck is very painfully stretched. Hasn’t happened in ages, but after learning about stroke risk I won’t just grin and bear it if it happens again.

There was an article on the Sun website that suggests ‘They also say people should ask their hairdressers to tilt the sink down, or to face the basin and flip your hair over it, avoiding the issue altogether’ - the second option sounds unpleasant, a bit like being water boarded.