A woman who had hair straightening therapy at a salon experienced renal damage. The New England Journal of Medicine released a case study in which medical professionals detailed the woman's experience. In the study, her identity has remained confidential. 

One of the medical professionals who attended to her stated that organ damage was probably caused by one of the straightening products. The doctor added that in June 2020, April 2021, and July 2022, the 26-year-old woman went to the salon to get the well-known hair treatment.

She described having a burning sensation on her scalp during the treatment, and she developed ulcers on her head. She also started to experience negative symptoms following each visit to the salon, such as vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and back discomfort.

After examining her, the doctors found that she had a kidney malfunction, as evidenced by high blood creatinine levels and blood in her urine. Her symptoms persisted despite a CT scan showing no indications of an infection or obstruction in her kidneys.

The woman told the doctors that she had used a glyoxylic acid-containing straightening lotion on her hair, which made them believe that this substance was the cause of her burning and ulcerations on her scalp.

After conducting additional research, which included conducting studies on rats, the physicians postulated that the glyoxylic acid entered her body through her skin and eventually made its way to her kidneys, where it caused harm as it broke down.

The woman had recurring episodes of acute renal injury, according to the study, as a result of oxalate nephropathy, a rare illness where kidney function is reduced as a result of calcium oxalate crystals building up in kidney tubules.

It went on to say that the hair-straightening techniques show glyoxylic acid to be the cause of the problem.

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