Have you ever blown out your own hair and, fatigued arms suspended in mid-air, thought, How do hairstylists do this all day?
Excruciatingly, that's how.
A recent Facebook post by UK-based massage therapist Hitesh Patel shows just how rough salon life can be on stylists and colorists. (And that's before taking exposure to harsh straightening and coloring chemicals into account.)
"Because [they are] spending hours standing on [their] feet rotated forward, whilst holding [a] brush in one hand and a hairdryer in the other angle over [their clients' heads] for hours and hours. Your muscles develop and stop holding your skeletal system in an unnatural off central position. So then when you finally do … put down your crimping equipment [and] try and sit down [in] a natural neutral position it just doesn't work."
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To be clear, the horrifying red marks you're looking at in Patel's photos are not from the daily motions of hairstyling — at least not directly. What you're looking at is the result of gua sha, an instrument-assisted form of massage therapy that works on scar tissue and, according to Patel, stretches muscles and realigns the spine.
So while the treatment looks painful, it's what you can't see — the invisible toll of a hairstylist's day-to-day routine — that can apparently cause a great deal of discomfort and damage.
Noting that it's also fitness instructors, dentists, mechanics and pharmacists who can face similar occupational issues, Patel writes, "Next time you look at your hairdresser and think they have an easy life, think of these pictures and see how much they sacrifice their own health just so your hair can look good!"
h/t Allure
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