Incidence of photokeratitis after a salon visit: A retrospective observational study

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to report the incidence of bilateral photokeratitis in patrons of hair-cutting salons following inadvertent exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays from germicidal sterilizing cabinets. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It is a retrospective observational study of 30 patients w...

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Main Authors: Bipasha Mukherjee, Jay Kalliath, Sonia Mathew, Vijaya Natarajan, Sandeep Thirumalai, Rajesh Dalvi, Kavitha Avadhani
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2025-05-01
Series:Oman Journal of Ophthalmology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/ojo.ojo_392_24
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author Bipasha Mukherjee
Jay Kalliath
Sonia Mathew
Vijaya Natarajan
Sandeep Thirumalai
Rajesh Dalvi
Kavitha Avadhani
author_facet Bipasha Mukherjee
Jay Kalliath
Sonia Mathew
Vijaya Natarajan
Sandeep Thirumalai
Rajesh Dalvi
Kavitha Avadhani
author_sort Bipasha Mukherjee
collection DOAJ
description PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to report the incidence of bilateral photokeratitis in patrons of hair-cutting salons following inadvertent exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays from germicidal sterilizing cabinets. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It is a retrospective observational study of 30 patients who were diagnosed with UV-associated photokeratitis after a visit to a salon. RESULTS: Thirty patients presented between January 2019 and November 2023, with bilateral conjunctival congestion with superficial punctate epithelial erosions typical of photokeratitis. All of them were males, aged between 27 and 64 years (mean = 35 years; median = 33 years). All of them gave a history of a visit to a salon within 24 h before the onset of symptoms. The typical onset of symptoms was seen after a few hours of exposure, ranging from 4 to 12 (mean = 7.4; median = 6.5 h). They were treated with topical lubricants and antibiotics. Six of them were reviewed after 24 h when five were asymptomatic and one patient developed a corneal epithelial defect. CONCLUSION: Germicidal UV lamps are used ubiquitously for disinfection in barbershops. This report highlights the risk of accidental exposure to such lamps and the need to increase awareness among the general public to prevent such accidents.
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issn 0974-620X
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language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
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spelling doaj-art-7d1cfab22d084fa2bc743b4b8583cf622025-08-20T02:44:50ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsOman Journal of Ophthalmology0974-620X0974-78422025-05-0118217217610.4103/ojo.ojo_392_24Incidence of photokeratitis after a salon visit: A retrospective observational studyBipasha MukherjeeJay KalliathSonia MathewVijaya NatarajanSandeep ThirumalaiRajesh DalviKavitha AvadhaniPURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to report the incidence of bilateral photokeratitis in patrons of hair-cutting salons following inadvertent exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays from germicidal sterilizing cabinets. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It is a retrospective observational study of 30 patients who were diagnosed with UV-associated photokeratitis after a visit to a salon. RESULTS: Thirty patients presented between January 2019 and November 2023, with bilateral conjunctival congestion with superficial punctate epithelial erosions typical of photokeratitis. All of them were males, aged between 27 and 64 years (mean = 35 years; median = 33 years). All of them gave a history of a visit to a salon within 24 h before the onset of symptoms. The typical onset of symptoms was seen after a few hours of exposure, ranging from 4 to 12 (mean = 7.4; median = 6.5 h). They were treated with topical lubricants and antibiotics. Six of them were reviewed after 24 h when five were asymptomatic and one patient developed a corneal epithelial defect. CONCLUSION: Germicidal UV lamps are used ubiquitously for disinfection in barbershops. This report highlights the risk of accidental exposure to such lamps and the need to increase awareness among the general public to prevent such accidents.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/ojo.ojo_392_24haircutphotokeratitispunctate epithelial erosionssalonultraviolet disinfection lampultraviolet radiationultraviolet sterilizer cabinet
spellingShingle Bipasha Mukherjee
Jay Kalliath
Sonia Mathew
Vijaya Natarajan
Sandeep Thirumalai
Rajesh Dalvi
Kavitha Avadhani
Incidence of photokeratitis after a salon visit: A retrospective observational study
Oman Journal of Ophthalmology
haircut
photokeratitis
punctate epithelial erosions
salon
ultraviolet disinfection lamp
ultraviolet radiation
ultraviolet sterilizer cabinet
title Incidence of photokeratitis after a salon visit: A retrospective observational study
title_full Incidence of photokeratitis after a salon visit: A retrospective observational study
title_fullStr Incidence of photokeratitis after a salon visit: A retrospective observational study
title_full_unstemmed Incidence of photokeratitis after a salon visit: A retrospective observational study
title_short Incidence of photokeratitis after a salon visit: A retrospective observational study
title_sort incidence of photokeratitis after a salon visit a retrospective observational study
topic haircut
photokeratitis
punctate epithelial erosions
salon
ultraviolet disinfection lamp
ultraviolet radiation
ultraviolet sterilizer cabinet
url https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/ojo.ojo_392_24
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