A mum who bought a 'head massager' to help with hair loss was left cringing when her husband asked why she had left a sex toy in the kitchen.
Tanya Rennie, from Devon, bought the item - which was advertised as a "body massager from head to toe" - to try and tackle her hair loss, but had no idea it was a sex toy until husband Scott broke the news.
Tanya had left the toy - which was still in its box - on the kitchen worktop ready to unpack, but when Scott, 36, returned from work, he was baffled as to why Tanya had left a sex toy by the kettle.
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Determined to prove it was a head massager, 37-year-old Tanya tested it out on her scalp - but after it left her feeling like her "head was in a tumble dryer" she realised she'd made a slight shopping error.
"It felt like my whole head was vibrating - my ears, my head. I was laughing and demonstrating it on the crown of my head, and saying, 'this isn't for your head'," she joked.
"I took it off and my head was still vibrating. I had it like that for 10 seconds. It was like my head being in a tumble dryer - not that I'd know what that feels like.
"It was powerful. You couldn't have kept that on there for 10 minutes like you would want to. It might have been alright for a sore arm or leg, but no good for your head.
"I did feel a bit silly that my husband [realised what it was] before me. How did he notice straight away and I took no notice at all? It made it even more funny.
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"I did laugh. I was specifically looking for a head massager and there were a couple of different types.
"I bought the old style one with metal tongs on it that you press into the head, but then I saw the electric one too and thought, 'that would be good'. I thought nothing of it really.
"The first thing he said was, 'honey, what are you doing leaving sex toys lying around?'. I looked at him and said, 'it's not your birthday, it's not a sex toy. It's for my head'.
"He said, 'that's not for your head'. I showed him the purchase on my phone and he started laughing. He got it out the box and said, 'put that on your head'.
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"I put it on my head and tried the vibration from it, and said, 'yeah I don't think that is for your head'. The penny dropped for me and I thought it was even funnier that it didn't even click."
Tanya has been suffering with hair loss for nearly five months, first noticing it when she saw the back of her head in a friend's photograph and realised how thin the crown of her hair had become.
"It's been significant hair loss. It's not like alopecia where it's in patches, but it's at the crown of my head," she explained.
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"I only noticed it because someone took a photo of me from behind and I zoomed in and the crown of my head was almost bald.
"I had noticed when washing my hair that a bit more hair was coming out. I've never had thick hair, but I realised how bad it has gotten and since then I realised my hair is coming out quite a lot.
"It's not in patches, it is in at the roots of my head. Being only 37 it makes me feel a bit insecure. There's a lot worse going on so I try not to be too vain about it.
"I was buying shampoo from America and you read everything thinking, 'this might work' and looking for a little bit of hope and get a bit silly with what you buy.
"I got the other [head massager] which was the old style that is like a big wire spider. It is like the spider legs that open and close as you put it onto your head.
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"I've kept with that one, and I've got some scalp treatment that I massage in twice a day at the moment, and I'm just sticking with that one.
"I've seen a bit of baby growth at the front of my hair that was receding, so I'm a bit more optimistic. That's within four months of using it so we'll see how we go after six months."
To be fair to Tanya it does look a lot like a microphone!
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