A haircut with a complimentary head and neck massage at an introductory price in a new salon opened near his house in HSR Layout was an offer that 38-year-old Ram Mohan Das (name changed) could not resist. But the 30-minute session proved too costly for the private company employee.
The therapist gave him a neck massage and turned his head suddenly on both sides till a crack was heard. As he walked back home, he felt uneasy with blurring of his vision. Managing to reach home, he realised he had difficulty in speaking too. Fortunately for him, his family members rushed him to a private hospital in Bommasandra, where doctors diagnosed it to be a stroke.
Vikram Huded, Head of Neurology at Narayana Health said the sudden turning of the head and the crack had resulted in dissection of the major artery supplying blood to the brain. Dissection occurs when a tear in the artery wall allows blood to leak between the layers and separate them.
“This is an important cause of cerebral stroke in young and middle-aged men, who have no lifestyle disorders such as diabetes and hypertension. I have seen at least three such cases in the last one year,” said Dr. Huded, who is also part of the Bangalore Stroke Support Group.
Further study needed
Several neurologists said there is a need for further studies. “Such head massages always ending with a sudden crack in the neck by untrained therapists should be avoided. Timely diagnosis followed by early intervention and the fact that this patient did not have any other co-morbidities helped in his recovery,” said the doctor.
