BEVERLY HILLS (CBSLA) – A Louisiana woman who has gained national attention after using Gorilla Glue in her hair was recovering Wednesday after undergoing a special procedure to have the glue removed from her hair.
Tessica Brown is seen on Feb. 10, 2021, after arriving in Los Angeles. (Getty Images)
Tessica Brown flew out to California Wednesday morning and then immediately went to the offices of plastic surgeon Dr. Michael Obeng to undergo what is expected to be an up to three-hour procedure to have the glue removed from her hair and scalp.
“The surgery went well,” Obeng, director of MiKO Plastic Surgery, said. “Tessica is doing well. She’s awake. The hair crew is doing her hair.”
After seeing her story online, Obeng reached out to Brown with the offer of performing a procedure to remove the glue using a special chemical treatment. The procedure would normally cost north of $12,000, but Obeng offered to do it for free.
“When I found out this was a reality, you can only feel compassion and sympathy for Tessica,” Obeng, director of MiKO Plastic Surgery, told CBSLA Tuesday. “The procedure will be to dissolve the polyurethane, which is Gorilla Glue is made out of,” Obeng said.
Brown’s ordeal started about a month ago after she ran out of hairspray and decided to use Gorilla Glue spray adhesive to hold her hair in place.
“I used this, Gorilla Glue spray,” she said in a video originally posted to TikTok.
However, Brown was then unable to remove the glue. She said she tried baby oil, cooking oil and shampoo to try to get the hardened glue off her hair, but nothing worked. She even went to a local emergency room, but the acetone wipes they gave her to breakdown the glue burned her scalp.
Obeng said the the procedure was very complication and comes with a recovery period of two to three months.
Tessica Brown, a Louisiana woman, posts about her experience attempting to remove Gorilla Glue adhesive spray from her hair. February 2021. (Credit: IM_D_OLLADY/Instagram)
Meanwhile, the Gorilla Glue Company released a statement Monday on Twitter offering its sympathies for Brown’s situation.
“We are very sorry to hear about the unfortunate incident that Miss Brown experienced using our Spray Adhesive on her hair,” the statement read in part. “We are glad to see in her recent video that Miss Brown has received medical treatment from her local medical facility and wish her the best.”
The statement went on:
“This is a unique situation because this product is not indicated for use in or on hair as it is considered permanent.”