In a recent video, Dr. Ragunath, the Urologist Oncologist and Robotic surgeon at HCG Cancer Hospital has spoken largely about how hair dyes cause different types of health issues and may even lead to cancer. In the video he has mentioned different types of cancers that they treat at the hospital, like, prostate cancer, bladder cancer and even kidney cancers. One thing he spoke about in the now viral video is that the doctors have been noticing a surge in the number of bladder cancer cases recently. He goes on explaining, “the reason being, of course, there are many carcinogens in the environment. What we eat, what we drink and what we inhale, all these things matter a lot. But off late, we have found a lot of people are using hair dye.”

Dr. Ragunath mentions that one may call it dye or henna, they harm the body just the same as it is a chemical at the end of the day. So, when one applies henna or hair dye on the head, it instantly colours the hair but also stays on the scalp, which is also the skin, for several days, maybe even more than two weeks sometimes.

Now the journey of this chemical substance is, Dr. Ragunath explains, “it stays on the scalp and gradually gets absorbed into the system. Eventually it gets excreted through the kidneys. When it is coming out of the kidneys through urine, it remains in the bladder for some time. Staying in contact with the bladder, it causes bladder cancer, something we only used to see in smokers previously.”

According to reports and cases at the hospital, bladder cancers are now common even in non-smokers and women especially because they have started to use more hair dye. Dr. Ragunath mentions, “If women use it for 6 to 8 years or 10 years, their chances of getting bladder cancers are very high. We have documented this.”

Towards the end of the video, Dr. Ragunath makes a powerful appeal to women: “Grey is not just natural, it’s safe.” His concern isn’t just aesthetic, it’s medical. With an alarming rise in bladder cancer cases, especially among non-smokers and long-term hair dye users, the message is clear: it's time to rethink beauty standards. Choosing health over harmful beauty norms isn’t just wise, it’s necessary.