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Have you ever had to nurse your hair back to health?

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Yes, thats what brought me to this site.

I had caused my edges to thin from wearing too tight braids, for too long..

I researched essential oil blends that helped, and after some trial and error found a great stylist who put in twists (lightly) ...slowly but surely my edges thrived...grew back..:grin:

I've been here ever since...:blush:
 
Yes. The problem was that before I began my hair care journey I relaxed irregularly (most of the time I would wait until my NG took over my whole head, then I'd rake a brush through it and slick it back), brushed my hair with plastic brisle brushes, and when I relaxed I relaxed my previously relaxed ends and left it on for a very long time (like half an hour to fourty minutes). My hair was past SL, but not quite APL, but I was dealing with major split ends and dehydrated, straw like hair. When I began my challenge I didn't trim, I just stopped shampooing my hair and switched to co-washing, relaxed my hair every three months and applied it only to my NG, and made sure to deep condition once a week, moisturize my hair daily, and use natural oils instead of synthetic oils to coat my hair. My hair's condition gradually improved to how it looks like now. I've bee on this journey for almost two years, and I've probably trimmed my hair a total of two or three times (and one of those times was more like a dusting than a trim).
 
i bleached my hair and got two back-to-back sew-ins, then during the takedown i let my cousin yank out half my hair. i went from SL to ear length in about an hour.

found a dominican salon, stopped getting relaxers, and then i found LHCF.
 
Yes, I was station in Hawaii, and doing my own hair, including relaxer, and I overprocess like crazy. My hair was thinning and everything, and one day I had dyed some of my hair blonde and since I was in the navy, I couldn't keep it like that, so the next day I dyed it black....talking about breakage!!! I just left my hair alone until I came back home to SC, and decided I wanted long hair, so I started with cathy howse system, did some more research and started taking vitamins. But I will have to say after I stopped brushing and greasing my scalp, my hair started to get thicker and the vitamins really help too. Believe me don't get discourage, everyone has had downfalls and setbacks...I'm surprise I have a full head of healthy hair. But dying and overprocessing was killing me......just find products that work for you, and meditate.....seriously, I do, if you think about growing hair, then it will grow, the mind is very powerful....just don't give up.....
 
where do i begin......my mom and i have always experimented with stuff from colors (black only) to relaxers. I have had my hair break off at the crown, nape and just break off from bad relaxers (dr.s miracles!!!) that my hair didn't like and african pride product line. when african pride came out in the 90's we used it and our hair started to fall out. there are many other products, but my hair most of the time only likes the salon products(some nerve).

how did i get it back in shape? well deep conditioning, never using what messed my hair up again. and time. with weeks or several months the hair normally snapped back into shape.

stuff like this happens to hair you just have to know when to stop experimenting and using stuff that your hair doesn't like.
 
Yep. My hair was a HAM sandwich before I found LHCF :ohwell:

I relaxed religously every 4 weeks with a super relaxer from root to tip. Wore glue in weaves and never removed the glue. From the crown of my head back, my hair was one sticky, black, gluey dreadlock :blush: I just slapped the relaxer on over the glue and if the glue didn't come out, oh well. I was just gonna put a weave on again anyway :eek2:

Used heat daily, the highest setting. And Pink Lotion was my best friend :ohwell: If my hair didn't sizzle when using the curling iron, I'd pour on even more Pink Lotion. Sizzling, smoking hair was a good thing!

When I found LHCF, my hair was frizzy, overprocessed, heat damaged.... Oh, did I mention I colored my hair all the time? Once I dyed it bright blonde. Didn't like it, so I dyed it brown a few days later :eek: I had a different color each month!

So anywho, when I found LHCF I was on a mission! I dc'd weekly, moisturized and wore protective styles daily and baggied nightly. After a few months I got into co washing and did that daily. Then I started deep conditioning 3 times a week. Eventually my hair turned around. After my first 3 months of LHCF, my hair was the longest it's been in all my life! I never had hair that was SL!

Just stay consistant, find products that work for you and treat your hair like gold.... I didn't mean to make this such a long post. I came in here telling myself I'd be short, simple and to the point :perplexed Well, I'll shut my yap now :)
 
in the process as we speak, the first time was an African braider I let do my hair for my wedding 2 years ago. After that severe shedding/breaking episode I decided to cut most of my length and get a relaxer by a professional stylist (big mistake) a year later. So I let my hair grow out for about 5 months, touched it up myself with MMBB mild, and it was growing in nicely. Then I let someone (with pretty nice hair and color) at work who swears by her stylist talk me into giving her stylist a go at my hair. Bigger mistake, she over processed my hair trying to get it bone straight and then she flat ironed it the same day I got a relaxer, this was on July 15,2008. I haven't been back since. I don't trust anyone BUT me to do my hair. I don't care how tired or frustrated I am, I am going to do it myself. End of story.
:yep:
 
Yea when I first started it was thin, dry, dull and over-processed among other things and short due to breakage (less than 6") and still breaking

Aphogee protien treatments
Conditoning (hadnt before)
Low/no heat and leaving it alone- Braids, Buns/claw clips
Moisturizing & Oiling

After 6 months people were telling me how much better my hair was doing.
 
3 times from overprocessing.
The 1st time my hair was SL but my crown broke off to 3 inches. it was beyond repairing and i had to cut it all off and start over.
the next 2 times broken pieces all over...brought me to this site. . Thats when i discovered stretching, protein, leave ins and a wealth load of info and products. helped baby my hair back to health
 
Zion Love Lee said:
What was the problem and how did you fix it? I need motivation. :ohwell:
Click to expand...

Yep. I bought one of those stoves that they use in the hair shop and burnt my hair really bad in one section. It was in the back middle of my hair. It was only an inch long while the rest of my hair was about arm pit length. It was so horrible and made me really depressed. I don't remember what I did exactly to fix it. I know one thing is for sure. I stopped using that stove thing, and I think I started doing less to my hair.
 
Nursing back to health right now. Not seeing progress. Hair stopped shedding in that area but no regrowth yet. I haven't been on a steady regimen.
 
foxxylisa1025 said:
Yep. I bought one of those stoves that they use in the hair shop and burnt my hair really bad in one section. It was in the back middle of my hair. It was only an inch long while the rest of my hair was about arm pit length. It was so horrible and made me really depressed. I don't remember what I did exactly to fix it. I know one thing is for sure. I stopped using that stove thing, and I think I started doing less to my hair.
Click to expand...

OMG! This is me right now. I don't know why or how, but my hair as broken off in the back middle of my hair! I'm thinking it's a result of switching relaxers. I went from Brand A No Lye to Brand A Lye to Brand B Lye to Brand B No Lye. :ohwell: It was over the course of a year (possibly longer), but I guess it was too much.

Now I'm using Brand B No Lye adding EVOO to it so it won't be so strong. I'm also trying to figure out exactly what is it that my hair needs- protein, moisture, or both. I don't know what to do.
 
Yea thats my purpose here, I believe it healthy. But imma keep treating it like it damage so I can still make progress.
Back then I was a fan of tight braids and flat ironing damn near daily.
 
I've always had a relaxer. And then I went to college. The first two years my hair grew. I tried to get an assymetrical bob and the stylist messed it up TWICE and both times my hair grew back. I tend to get bored with my hair, so I dyed it red, 3 times within a month, because after washing my hair, the red washed out, even though it was permanent.

My hair snapped, and came out, and was extremely uneven, and I had my mother cut it all off and I went and got a sew in weave, then braids, and it grew back......BUT when I moved to Atlanta from Philly (not from either originally), I stopped wrapping my hair. Why? STRESS, I go to art school and its not a cake walk. I'm up all day and night doing school work, so when I FINALLY get the chance to sleep I just jump in my bed. So stress, not taking care of my hair, and bad decisions made my hair sooo unhealthy.

My way of taking care of my hair was deciding to go natural, because 1, I never got relaxers ever 6 weeks, I didn't know that was called stretching, but so be it. I wanted more versatility with my hair, and felt like going natural would be the best way. Since being on LHCF and realizing how to take care of my hair, I would say its STRONGER and HEALTHIER, but NOT LONGER, because I recently cut it off.

Honestly if I had of came to LHCF a year ago, I wouldn't have gone natural, I just would of known how to take care of my relaxed hair the proper way. My hair always grew when relaxed, so if I was taking care of it the right way I bet my hair would be extremely long. BUT I'm enjoying this natural hair journey.
 
i still currently am..and its quite successful so far thank the Lord. I used to relax and just neglect and abuse my hair. one day i woke up and saw how thin it was: reality check. started transitioning and taking MUCH better care of what God blessed me with
 
yes in january of this year my nape was GONE. broken off to the root and I grew it back by not relaxing it and keeping it moisturized.

Now Im focusing on growing back my sides.
 
Yes 1000 times over still doing it. Right now I some breakage on equal sides behind my ears because of my eyeglasses. Just moisturizing. I can tell you stories of putting in red color that only took to my roots then put in braids two weeks later. Harm myself for that one. Nape of my neck and crown area shorter than my other hair from breakage due to ponytails. ETC. I was either patient and just let it grow out or cut my hair to the length of the breakage.
 
I had heat damage from blow drying and flat ironing my hair every two weeks for close to a year. I noticed the breakage first and then my hair wouldn't revert back to its natural state. I cut out the heat all together and started wearing my hair in protective styles like two-strand twist and cornrows. It took a while but I only hair 2 inches of damage left on my hair being that my hair grew so now all of hair is curly except for the ends.
 
I am reading and don't have much to add. Too much to tell, but I love the stories and the victory you ladies have had over trying times.
 
Let's see...six years ago, some hair stylist left relaxer in my hair after not rinsing it out properly. It took about all of 3 days for the bald patch at the crown of my head to start spreading. Needless to say, I never went back to her.
I went to another salon, the stylist there recommended protein treatments but knowing what i know now, I realize she wasn't really balancing it out with enoungh deep moisturing treatments. It took awhile (like a year and a half) for my scalp to fully heal and start growing hair like it used to before the relaxer was left in it. But the new salon also used to blow dry my roots all the time. Little did I know I was burning my hair follicles. So that caused damage as well
Then I started law school and my health went to hell because I was so stressed out and not take care of myself. Finals Spring semester within that 2 week period...my hair fell out....on my bathroom floor...my cream color bathroom mat was black...50% of the hair from the back and crown of my head, gone. My mother saw me and was horrified. I had to get it cut into a bob because that's the only cut that fit what hair was left on my head.
Then I found LHCF, and my hair is a lot healthier than it has been in years. The thinness in the back is gone. It's not as thick in the crown area but it's getting better. The bob has grown out and I don't have any breakage anymore. :D
 
I had to nurse my hair back to health a few times:

The first time was when I was eighteen years old. I didn't really know how to take care of my hair. I would wash it about once a month, pile on the grease and use the curling iron (without a heat protectant) every single day. Also, my shoulder length hair had about six inches of split ends. My hair was nursed back to health when I decided to start going to my local beauty salon. The hairstylist cut off most of my hair and for about four years my hair was healthy until. . . .

I got highlights and my hair started to break. It was SEVERE breakage (short pieces all over my head). I went to the salon weekly for treatments but that didn't help, so I stopped going to the salon and chopped off my hair (it was nearly APL - after the cut it was three inches long in the front and about an inch long in the back). If I was on this site back then I would have tried to go natural but I kept relaxing my hair. Taking care of my own hair helped it grow back very healthy and strong. That's when I realized that I didn't need to go to the salon.
 
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tiffers said:
Yep. My hair was a HAM sandwich before I found LHCF :ohwell:

I relaxed religously every 4 weeks with a super relaxer from root to tip. Wore glue in weaves and never removed the glue. From the crown of my head back, my hair was one sticky, black, gluey dreadlock :blush: I just slapped the relaxer on over the glue and if the glue didn't come out, oh well. I was just gonna put a weave on again anyway :eek2:

Used heat daily, the highest setting. And Pink Lotion was my best friend :ohwell: If my hair didn't sizzle when using the curling iron, I'd pour on even more Pink Lotion. Sizzling, smoking hair was a good thing!

When I found LHCF, my hair was frizzy, overprocessed, heat damaged.... Oh, did I mention I colored my hair all the time? Once I dyed it bright blonde. Didn't like it, so I dyed it brown a few days later :eek: I had a different color each month!

So anywho, when I found LHCF I was on a mission! I dc'd weekly, moisturized and wore protective styles daily and baggied nightly. After a few months I got into co washing and did that daily. Then I started deep conditioning 3 times a week. Eventually my hair turned around. After my first 3 months of LHCF, my hair was the longest it's been in all my life! I never had hair that was SL!

Just stay consistant, find products that work for you and treat your hair like gold.... I didn't mean to make this such a long post. I came in here telling myself I'd be short, simple and to the point :perplexed Well, I'll shut my yap now :)
Click to expand...

:pullhair::eek:

OMG! My hair and scalp ache just from reading that. I'm glad you were able to repair.

I have to wonder how many women do stuff like this to their hair.
 
I had been a self-relaxer for many years. Well, in December 2005 (before I found hairboards), I decided that the back of my hair was "resistant," and I needed to let the relaxer marinade on that section a little longer.....like 15 minutes longer, for a total of 30 minutes! To make matters worse, I had even pulled the relaxer down the length of my hair, with no protective barrier (i.e. conditioner, oil, etc.) on my previously-relaxed ends. When I finally rinsed the relaxer out, the nape was basically gone, and I had breakage throughout the back section...pieces as long as 3-4" long had just broken off. To make matters even worse still, I flatironed my hair on a too-hot setting...I remember smelling burning hair but that didn't stop me. Before this incident, the length of my hair was between shoulder and armpit, but after the damage, the ends of that section barely reached the bottom of my neck!

As a result, I began to regularly moisturize that damaged section, stopped using all direct heat, and began shortening my relaxing time (texlaxing). Six months later (June 2006), I found hairboards and now my hair is thick and healthy. I still self-relax (texlax), but I have a much better understanding of what I am doing now. My nape has grown back and is now the same length as the rest of my hair.

Be encouraged...with a little patience and consistency with your regimen, you can grow a whole new head of beautiful hair.
 
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Right now, I am facing a major setback. Every time I touch my hair, two to three inches fall off. I deep conditionded over the weekend, then set it in braids.

I could not bear to see all of my hair falling out. I believe it was due to protein overload and this concoction a hairdresser put in my hair.

In my braids, I'm spraying with brx braid spray, olive oil and water mix. Hot towel over braids.
 
locabouthair said:
yes in january of this year my nape was GONE. broken off to the root and I grew it back by not relaxing it and keeping it moisturized.

Now Im focusing on growing back my sides.
Click to expand...

Did you leave it loose or did you braid it/do something else?

Right now the back middle of my hair is braided. I hope that helps. :perplexed
 
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