A TikToker from Trinidad and Tobago says an Air Wick plug-in left her with a migraine so severe she ended up in the emergency room.
Ghyanne (@beautyoutspoken) posted a storytime warning viewers to be cautious with scented products after her own frightening experience. Her video has drawn attention from others who’ve had similar issues, getting over 30,500 views.
How an Air Wick Plug-In Freshener Sent Her to the ER
“All right, so I’m finally ready to talk about it,” she begins. “Those Air Wick plug-ins—yes, these—sent me to the emergency room this week,” she said, with an image of the product appearing on screen.
She explains that the whole thing started innocently enough. After cleaning her room, she decided to plug in a freshener she had stored away.
“I like the scent and I’m like, whatever,” she recalled. For the first few days, she kept it on a middle setting before lowering it to the lowest level when the smell seemed too strong.
By Tuesday—just four days later—things took a serious turn. “I got the worst migraine ever,” she said. At first, she thought it was a normal headache, but as someone who “does not get headaches,” the intensity shocked her.
From around 3 p.m. onward, the pain only got worse until she couldn’t sit still or think clearly. By nighttime, she says she was rushed to the ER.
Doctors gave her strong painkillers and medication to help her rest. “I’m still taking painkillers up to now,” she added, noting that even days later, she was experiencing residual symptoms.
“I’m warning anybody, if they have these plugins and you’re somebody that is sensitive… avoid these plugins,” she told viewers.
She added that her history with eczema and other sensitivities may have made her more vulnerable, but the reaction was so severe that she doesn’t want others to go through the same thing.
“Please avoid,” she concluded.
Can air fresheners really make you sick?
Research suggests yes. According to the TILT Research Program for Chemical Intolerance at UT Health in San Antonio, air fresheners can contain potentially hazardous ingredients.
These may include volatile organic compounds (VOCs), formaldehyde, phthalates, and 1,4-dichlorobenzene—all substances linked to migraines, asthma attacks, and other respiratory issues.
Ghyanne is not the only one to complain about health issues possibly caused by Air Wick. Upon searching for complaints under SaferProducts.gov, we found thousands of similar complaints by customers. Others have taken to expressing the same frustrations on Reddit, TikTok, and more.
Why air freshener companies aren’t required to tell you what’s in them
What makes the issue even trickier is that fragrance companies are not legally required to disclose their full ingredient lists in the United States.
Thanks to the so-called “fragrance loophole,” formulations can be classified as trade secrets, meaning nearly 4,000 different chemicals may fall under the simple label of “fragrance.”
The International Fragrance Association (IFRA) regulates which substances are allowed, but oversight is largely self-imposed by the industry.
Others say they’ve had similar experiences
Viewers flooded Ghyanne’s comments with their own stories. One person wrote, “Oh yes! I’ve noticed this whenever a new one is plugged in the scent is super strong & my sinuses get really irritated & I get migraines.”
Another recalled getting sick while traveling: “It was so strong. As I enter the room my nose burn. I woke up sick. Fever, headache, cold. Lasted for 5 days.”
One parent said her children’s breathing problems cleared up after she got rid of air fresheners in her home. “Every time they got a cold they would wheeze, and the doctor asked if I used air refreshers. I told her I had automatic ones in every room. She told me that’s what’s causing it. I got rid of every one. They never wheezed again.”
@beautyoutspoken Warning anyone who may be sensitive to scents etc. Please avoid!!! #trini_tiktoks #trinidadandtobago #trinitiktok #tobago #airwickplugin ♬ original sound – Beauty Outspoken
Others noted that their doctors or even acupuncturists advised them to avoid scented candles and air fresheners because of headaches and nausea.
The Mary Sue has reached out to Air Wick via contact form and to Ghyanne via Instagram direct messages for more information.
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