Hairdressing caused nose infection and collapse 'after years of inhaling clippings'

A hairdresser was horrified when her nose collapsed after decades of breathing in minute hair clippings.

Edwina Phillipson, 51, from Northumberland, says tiny fragments of hair lodged themselves in the skin inside her nose.

This caused an infection that eventually caused a hole to open through her septum.

After 35 years of being exposed to the professional hazard the mother-of-three had to undergo an operation to rebuild it using cartilage taken from her right ear.

Edwina, who has taken to wearing a surgical mask in her salon in an effort to stop the problem, has issued a warning to others in the hair industry to protect their noses while they work.

Mrs Phillipson, who runs her own unisex salon in Newbiggin-by-the Sea, said: 'I work for myself now so I can wear a mask.

'People get used to it once you explain the reason why. So now my customers come in and they are quite happy to accept that I wear a mask while cutting hair.

'But in the past when I have asked employers if I could wear a mask they have said no because it doesn't look good for business.

via Hairdressing caused nose infection and collapse 'after years of inhaling clippings' | Mail Online.