Brain/Skull Scarring

[keepithealthy]

Note: This is not an attack against those who relax their hair.

I was watching some vids on youtube and came accross this comment.

@MissLady8282 I had a relaxer up until 2008 when I interned in a Manhattan ER & we did rotations thru every dept of the hospital. In one I worked in the morgue & we did an autopsy on a black woman. When we cut her scalp, she had brain/skull scarring. Our docfellow said most black women putting chemicals in their hair are slowly frying the skull & eventually the brain. I dont care about natural vs. relaxed; i care about health.

OMG!!! :burning:

I don't know if this is happening to every black women who relaxes but I'm sure a good majority of us didn't/ don't get our hair properly relaxed. (I was one of them )

How sad

There definitely needs to be more education about caring for our hair.

(p.s. This is not an attack against those who relax their hair. I am just saying that in real life, at least in my personal experience most black women don't know how to care for their hair..natural or relaxed.)

 

[MsBoinglicious]

Well I mean (even though you rinse it off) it's still being absorbed into the scalp and depending on the persons body/scalp, how often they relax and how severe the chemical burn may be...I would not be surprised at something like that happening.

ETA: what YTube video were you watching?

 

[maysay]

I think it's interesting that these ideas have been floating around forever. Whether it's skull/brain scarring (which doesn't even make sense...you'd have to melt part of your skull to get to your brain) or a "green foam" underneath the scalp. The problem is there's no real proof (ie scientific research from a peer reviewed source) that these things are happening. That's not to say it's not happening, just that these anecdotes should be taken with a grain of salt (or a cup of it).

 

[melissa-bee]

Yeah that's suprising. People argue that's why you're not supposed to put relaxer on your scalp, but it cannot be helped that's why people are always worried about irritating their scalp days before the relaxer and buying one's that don't burn your scalp.

 

[keepithealthy]

I was watching this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFKu34dOfYo

love her. Her hair always looks so pretty!

 

[Chaosbutterfly]

I'ma need her to show me the autopsy report on that. 'Tis all.

 

[asummertyme]

heard about this over and over the years being a member here ..this subject seems to come up every now and again and I pretty much feel like this about it....
No offense to the OP..
No hard evidence of this being true at all..

 

[Vintageglam]

If this were the case relaxers would not be on the shelves and their would be a lot of fros out there....

 

[Esq.2B]

Whoopdy do. Black women are overwhelmingly dying from diabetes, heart disease, AIDS, and various cancers, not relaxers. Still, "we" eat a lot of sugar, processed food, fatty foods, over exert ourselves, and continue to have unprotected sex. If "relaxer use" becomes a leading cause of death among AA women, I'll be concerned. *shrugs*

 

[Enyo]

This rumor has been floating around since I went natural 10 years ago. But I do think it's safe to say it's ALWAYS better to use less caustic/no chemicals on the body whenever possible.

 

[ThePerfectScore]

I think it's interesting that these ideas have been floating around forever. Whether it's skull/brain scarring (which doesn't even make sense...you'd have to melt part of your skull to get to your brain) or a "green foam" underneath the scalp. The problem is there's no real proof (ie scientific research from a peer reviewed source) that these things are happening. That's not to say it's not happening, just that these anecdotes should be taken with a grain of salt (or a cup of it).

I def think if this were an issue there would be tons of research on it. Also I highly doubt the FDA would approve relaxers if this were the case.... Although, they approve all other sorts of dangerous things... perhaps the hundred years of hair relaxing slipped through the cracks?!?! OMG this may very well be the cosmetics company equivalent of the Tuskegee experiment. The government and scientific community does have a history of being shady.

 

[dynamic1]

We all know relaxers contain potentially harmful ingredients. However, I believe this is an urban legend.

 

[Enyo]

I def think if this were an issue there would be tons of research on it. Also I highly doubt the FDA would approve relaxers if this were the case.... Although, they approve all other sorts of dangerous things... perhaps the hundred years of hair relaxing slipped through the cracks?!?! OMG this may very well be the cosmetics company equivalent of the Tuskegee experiment. The government and scientific community does have a history of being shady.

Yes, it does. I never rely on the FDA for anything anymore. They keep out drugs that can help people for profit reasons and approve things that can hurt people (look at all the commercials for litigation involving FDA approved drugs). The cosmetic industry is too rich and powerful for me to every believe that everything they are pushing on people is safe.

 

[NJoy]

LOL. I can appreciate how OP is tippy-toe'g in with all the disclaimers to share the information and greatly appreciate it. I'm relaxed and ok with it. Nowadays, all you can really do is pray over your health. Lord knows there are carcinogens in the food, water and even in the air that we breathe. This might sound apathetic and reckless (maybe a result of a singed brain) but, I'm gonna live til I die and try not to stress in between. Thank you for sharing. This sort of talk has been circulating for years.

 

[gymfreak336]

This has been a tale since the beginning of time.

Anyone that knows anything about bone composition and the would be effects of such a low percentage of sodium hydroxide, never mind the all of the layers of vascularized tissue it would have to penetrate in order to even reach the skull can figure out that there is not basis to this claim. And brain scarring? So the chemical would have to get to the cranium, penetrate the 6-8 millimeters of bone to then reach the meninges....Okay

 

[Nameless]

I was watching some vids on youtube and came accross this comment.

@MissLady8282 I had a relaxer up until 2008 when I interned in a Manhattan ER & we did rotations thru every dept of the hospital. In one I worked in the morgue & we did an autopsy on a black woman. When we cut her scalp, she had brain/skull scarring. Our docfellow said most black women putting chemicals in their hair are slowly frying the skull & eventually the brain. I dont care about natural vs. relaxed; i care about health.

That's the thing, it's a Youtube comment. There are all kinds of people who pretend they're something or lie about things over the internet because they have their computer screens to hide behind. I will not believe that comment unless I have proof of what she said. To be honest, I think it was someone's clever way of bringing up the whole relaxed vs. natural debate on the sly.
But thanks OP for voicing your concern and letting us know.

 

[ms.blue]

I know that relaxers can cause skin scarring but skull & brain scarring that seems a little to extreme. This person must have put straight liquid lye on her head for that to happen. Also wouldn't this person know that something was going on?

 

[comike]

If you know anything about anatomy and physiology, you'd know that this is just ridiculous. I'm going to leave it at that.

 

[tailormade84]

welllllllllllllll.......im not gonna discount this because there can be scarring/harm on other internal organs without the chemicals penetrating through all the layers to get there - they can be consumed, inhaled or absorbed through the skin and then travel through the bloodstream to damage certain susceptible organs. But I would think that certain organs, such as the liver, would show the most damage ..... but im not a doctor...(yet)....

not saying that i believe the statement, i just cant completely discount it....

 

[Clem98tig]

I heard this on the Michael Baisden show...I've wondered if it was true....

 

[motherpopcorn562]

Note: This is not an attack against those who relax their hair.

I was watching some vids on youtube and came accross this comment.

@MissLady8282 I had a relaxer up until 2008 when I interned in a Manhattan ER & we did rotations thru every dept of the hospital. In one I worked in the morgue & we did an autopsy on a black woman. When we cut her scalp, she had brain/skull scarring. Our docfellow said most black women putting chemicals in their hair are slowly frying the skull & eventually the brain. I dont care about natural vs. relaxed; i care about health.

OMG!!! :burning:

I don't know if this is happening to every black women who relaxes but I'm sure a good majority of us didn't/ don't get our hair properly relaxed. (I was one of them )

How sad

There definitely needs to be more education about caring for our hair.

(p.s. This is not an attack against those who relax their hair. I am just saying that in real life, at least in my personal experience most black women don't know how to care for their hair..natural or relaxed.)

I've also heard this about white/asian etc women who dye their hair...similar issues.

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

I don't think that relaxers cause brain or bone scarring....but I am concerned about the long term effects of caustic chemical exposure. There may not be definitive research out there as of yet but never underestimate the power of massive profits to brush health hazards under the rug.

When my father was growing up he was told that smoking is perfectly healthy for you and a sign of manhood. He found out much later after he was already addicted that it causes cancer. This sounds like common knowledge but cigarettes being safe was popular belief then.

Think about it, this is a substance that can cause your skin to burn or melt off and has the potential to cause baldness over time this is a product that many consumers intentionally keep on their scalps after it has started to burn to attain the desired results....I don't think its too much of a stretch to say maybe we should look into the longterm impact on health.

 

[brooklyngal73]

Aha, a voice of reason! Thank you.

This has been a tale since the beginning of time.

Anyone that knows anything about bone composition and the would be effects of such a low percentage of sodium hydroxide, never mind the all of the layers of vascularized tissue it would have to penetrate in order to even reach the skull can figure out that there is not basis to this claim. And brain scarring? So the chemical would have to get to the cranium, penetrate the 6-8 millimeters of bone to then reach the meninges....Okay

 

[Kash]

Hey op i found this on a MD forum.

" Q. Is it true that all Black women straighten their hair with dangerous chemicals ?

A. 73% of all African American women with naturally kinky, tightly coiled hair straighten their hair by using very powerful chemicals like “lye” which work to change the basic structure of your hair. Very powerful toxic chemicals penetrate the hair cortex and break down the structure and pattern of your hair.

After the process the hair is permanently damaged in a very powerful and dangerous way and no matter how you look at it; it is bad for your hair and scalp, and most likely will eventually lead to hair loss.
This process of straighten or relaxing the hair will make the hair like hay, weak and fragile and more susceptible to breakages.

Constant use of the potent relaxer chemicals can cause toxin by-products that will eventually clog up your hair follicles and seep into the scalp and blood stream."

 

[motherpopcorn562]

IMHO and in my experience. Relaxers will probaly do no harm to the average healthy individual. However, if you already have health issues or develop health issues you don't know the cause of, you may want to look to your chemical exposure for answers. There is a reason why the onocologist tells cancer patients not to relax their hair, not to use deodorant etc.

 

[Adaoba2012]

This doesn't even begin to make sense...sorry OP. I'm not just saying this because I am relaxed but the chemicals would have to travel far and deep to cause skull scarring..and as for brain scarring the skull would have to have completely melted for it to cause harm to the brain. I would think she would have had some severe brain damage as well. Sorry it just doesn't make sense. Sometimes people will say what ever they feel they have to just to make a point...and this seems like one of those cases.

 

[Dogmd]

Note: This is not an attack against those who relax their hair.

I was watching some vids on youtube and came accross this comment.

@MissLady8282 I had a relaxer up until 2008 when I interned in a Manhattan ER & we did rotations thru every dept of the hospital. In one I worked in the morgue & we did an autopsy on a black woman. When we cut her scalp, she had brain/skull scarring. Our docfellow said most black women putting chemicals in their hair are slowly frying the skull & eventually the brain. I dont care about natural vs. relaxed; i care about health.

OMG!!! :burning:

I don't know if this is happening to every black women who relaxes but I'm sure a good majority of us didn't/ don't get our hair properly relaxed. (I was one of them )

How sad

There definitely needs to be more education about caring for our hair.

(p.s. This is not an attack against those who relax their hair. I am just saying that in real life, at least in my personal experience most black women don't know how to care for their hair..natural or relaxed.)

THIS is absolutely RIDICULOUS! I have done Autopsies on deceased humans...even ones with relaxers, and permanents and everything else people apply to their hair, and their skulls and underlying brain tissue is normal. It is completely ignorant to state that this can even happen from a relaxer. People ...please don't believe everything you see on you tube.

 

[hair4romheaven]

I've worked in the M.E office and funeral homes Yes this is true!
I always justified it by saying I relax only 2x a year but hey everything has something in it that will eventually kill you with excessive use. Deodorant causes cancer(it has aluminum in it) toothpaste and silver filling causes cancer it has flouride & mercury in it.
Ok I'm done I'm going to live in a bubble! anyone like to join me? LOL

 

[Solitude]

Whoopdy do. Black women are overwhelmingly dying from diabetes, heart disease, AIDS, and various cancers, not relaxers. Still, "we" eat a lot of sugar, processed food, fatty foods, over exert ourselves, and continue to have unprotected sex. If "relaxer use" becomes a leading cause of death among AA women, I'll be concerned. *shrugs*

 

[Enyo]

THIS is absolutely RIDICULOUS! I have done Autopsies on deceased humans...even ones with relaxers, and permanents and everything else people apply to their hair, and their skulls and underlying brain tissue is normal

I've worked in the M.E office and funeral homes Yes this is true!

OK, I'm confused.