A trip to the hairdresser led to acute kidney injury in a 26-year-old woman in France, with doctors warning that a chemical in a hair-straightening product was to blame.

Their patient, who had no prior health issues, had three consecutive episodes of acute kidney injury (AKI) immediately after receiving hair-straightening treatment.

The doctors said she presented with vomiting, diarrhoea, fever and back pain, with laboratory studies showing elevated plasma creatinine levels during each episode between 2020 and 2022.

There was no evidence of obstructive uropathy on CT imaging, but urinalyses confirmed the presence of blood and leukocytes without proteinuria or infection.