Edwina Phillipson's bandaged nose. Photo: North News & Pictures

The 51-year-old Brit tells the newspaper that miniscule pieces of her clients' hair became lodged in the skin inside her nose, causing an infection that created a hole in her septum.

Phillipson has reportedly undergone an operation to have her nose rebuilt using cartilage from her right ear, but continues to work in her salon, albeit while wearing a protective mask.

"It caused horrendous problems with my sinuses, headaches, breathing difficulties, and the fact that the wound was never closed meant there was always a raw edge somewhere," she tells the Daily Mail. "It was really very painful.

"As a hairdresser you're working with tiny clippings of short hair so you end up hoovering [vacuuming] them up with your nose inadvertently.

"It's not just the hair, it's the dead skin cells, gel on people's hair, and other particles they bring in with them."

Now, Phillipson is speaking out to warn other hairdressers who may suffer a similar fate and urging salon owners to allow their employees to wear masks.

"I feel this should be highlighted -- it's a danger we are putting ourselves in, but it's like the risks of smoking: everyone thinks it won't happen to them," she tells the paper.

This isn't the only health warning that salon professionals have received lately. New tests showing high levels of formaldehyde in the Brazilian Blowout straightening treatment also have staff and clients donning protective masks.

One way to keep your hair healthy and chemical free is to make your own shampoo.

In other hair news, parents say a school's bullying about their daughter's hair length led to her suicide.