Hair Emergency pls HELP! Hair won't stop falling out

adalexandria

Active Member
I have been a LHCF lurker for about a year now, but I only very recently (today) decided to join. Up until two weeks ago, I had a pretty healthy hair regime that kept my relaxed hair feeling and looking healthy. I CO wash weekly, followed by a deep conditioner and leave in conditioner. I usually let my hair airdry til almost totally dry, then blowout. Every few weeks I do a protein treatment and about every six weeks I do a clarifying poo to rid my hair of all impurities. I also have been relaxing my own hair for the past few years. I usually relax my hair once every 4-6 months, but I decided a couple weeks ago to do it a bit sooner than usual.

So, two weeks ago, I decided to do a little touch up on the new growth (I was about three months post relaxer). Everything about the process was normal and fine until I shampooed with the neutralizer. Suddenly all this hair came out! I was horrified to say the least, but rinsed/neutralized with additional poo several more times (as I always do post-relaxer to make sure the relaxer is completely out). The same thing happened - the hair wouldn't stop falling out! I followed up with Nexxus Emergencee which made my hair feel extremely hard, so I followed that with a DC. My hair was still hard after I rinsed everything out and the hair kept falling out. I didn't understand what was making this process different then any other relaxing process (I typically use Creme of Nature, but had switched to ORS no lye regular with no problems). So I looked over the relaxer ingredients and i realized to my horror that I had accidentally used ORS no lye extra strength relaxer instead of the normal one I always use!

For the past two weeks, my hair has been shedding/falling out more then it has ever done in my life and I just don't know what to do. I do know it's shedding and not breaking because I see the white bulb at the root. The hair at my roots feels crunchy/spongy, while the rest feels the same (obviously, because it wasn't relaxed). The hair at the roots also feels like a different texture - it's almost a bit curly and tangled. I don't know what I can do to help this situation and it's heartbreaking for me because I tried to be positively diligent with my hair. I have been scouring the forum archives for advice and decided to post my (first ever) post today for help. So ANY advice would be much appreciated. I want to cry every time I comb my hair. It seems as though the shedding won't stop.
 
Hmmm, I don't know why your hair would be falling out. Things to stop the shedding are...

Rinsing with tea
Garlic Shampoos or take garlic supplements.

As far as anything else, I hope someone else will chime in soon.
 
So I looked over the relaxer ingredients and i realized to my horror that I had accidentally used ORS no lye extra strength relaxer instead of the normal one I always use!

Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. That really really really sucks.

I'm pretty sure your scalp is reacting to the extra strength relaxer...and your roots are probably overprocessed because you used the extra strength as if it were the normal.

As the previous poster suggested, caffeine (tea or coffee) rinsing has worked for a lot of ladies to stop shedding. Personally, I wouldn't add any more chemicals to your scalp right now because it's still freaking out from the relaxer. Also, since you already did a protein you should make sure to keep up your moisture/protein balance because your roots need TLC.

The shedding will stop but I know right now it is really disheartening.
 
Oh no! I'm so sorry this is happening to you. The only thing I was going to suggest was garlic supplements which have already been mentioned.

I hope the shedding stops soon :bighug:
 
I've heard good things about garlic shampoos/conditioners--though I have never tried it

I am assuming that you neutralized properly and everything, so go ahead and do an advanced search on here for other threads started for shedding problems. HTH
 
What kind of relaxer did you use? I would grab some garlic shampoo and continue with your normal regimen. Dont do anything drastic like chop. You should recover. After i stretch for months at time i get a lot of shedding also. you should be fine.:grin:
 
Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. That really really really sucks.

I'm pretty sure your scalp is reacting to the extra strength relaxer...and your roots are probably overprocessed because you used the extra strength as if it were the normal.

As the previous poster suggested, caffeine (tea or coffee) rinsing has worked for a lot of ladies to stop shedding. Personally, I wouldn't add any more chemicals to your scalp right now because it's still freaking out from the relaxer. Also, since you already did a protein you should make sure to keep up your moisture/protein balance because your roots need TLC.

The shedding will stop but I know right now it is really disheartening.


Agreed. Black tea or any tea with caffeine will do. Boil that puppy, when you wash your hair make sure you get it to the root and the scalp and leave it there from 3 -20ish minutes depending on your caffeine sensitivity (I saw the thread when it first started), rinse it out, and this should help your hair to stop falling. There's all this research on it online. If you have tea it's something you can do now instead of running out to find garlic shampoo. You can of course follow up with that, but you really should give the tea a try.
 
Definitely overprocessed!!!!!
This is EXACTLY how I would describe what I was experiencing an overprocessed relaxer. It took me a long time to get to where I am today. About two years.
 
Take on of those hairs and pull it, concentrating on looking at the section that has just been relaxed. What happens?

Also, is your scalp irritated at all?

BTW, next time, don't use emergencee during the relaxer process. The bottle says to wait.

I know its fustrating but try not to stress out too much, it will only make it worse.
 
THANK YOU all so very much!! I really appreciate all your suggestions and kind words. I have never used Emergencee after relaxing but I guess I freaked out when my hair started falling out. I will definitely try the tea rinse method. Should I follow-up with a protein and/or DC treatment after? I feel like I complete novice after this experience but I know this will just make me wiser in the long run. Thank again ladies so very much for your advice and encouragement!!! :)
 
Also, my scalp doesn't feel irritated at all luckily. I know my hair is shedding/falling out because I can see the white bulb at the end of most of the hairs that are coming out. I have been using olive oil and a light spray leave in all week to try to keep things as moisturized as possible. Do you all think I should focus on moisturizing or protein at this point? Thanks again!!
 
Also, my scalp doesn't feel irritated at all luckily. I know my hair is shedding/falling out because I can see the white bulb at the end of most of the hairs that are coming out. I have been using olive oil and a light spray leave in all week to try to keep things as moisturized as possible. Do you all think I should focus on moisturizing or protein at this point? Thanks again!!

When you shampoo your hair, go based off of how the hair feels. If it is very mushy and feels like it has no type of structure or anything then yeah, you will need some protein.

You can tell the true condition of your hair when it is wet so wait until you wash to decide what you use. Keep us posted.
 
Thanks again! I'm going to do a whole treatment on Sunday so I will keep you posted on how things turn out. The worse has already happened so hopefully things will only improve from here! :)
 
If you are finding the white bulb at the end this is the hair bulb that the hair grows out of, that could mean the end of the life cycle for the hair or that you have a bigger problem than any conditioner can handle, it is internal have your iron level checked are you animic?
 
I have been a LHCF lurker for about a year now, but I only very recently (today) decided to join. Up until two weeks ago, I had a pretty healthy hair regime that kept my relaxed hair feeling and looking healthy. I CO wash weekly, followed by a deep conditioner and leave in conditioner. I usually let my hair airdry til almost totally dry, then blowout. Every few weeks I do a protein treatment and about every six weeks I do a clarifying poo to rid my hair of all impurities. I also have been relaxing my own hair for the past few years. I usually relax my hair once every 4-6 months, but I decided a couple weeks ago to do it a bit sooner than usual.

So, two weeks ago, I decided to do a little touch up on the new growth (I was about three months post relaxer). Everything about the process was normal and fine until I shampooed with the neutralizer. Suddenly all this hair came out! I was horrified to say the least, but rinsed/neutralized with additional poo several more times (as I always do post-relaxer to make sure the relaxer is completely out). The same thing happened - the hair wouldn't stop falling out! I followed up with Nexxus Emergencee which made my hair feel extremely hard, so I followed that with a DC. My hair was still hard after I rinsed everything out and the hair kept falling out. I didn't understand what was making this process different then any other relaxing process (I typically use Creme of Nature, but had switched to ORS no lye regular with no problems). So I looked over the relaxer ingredients and i realized to my horror that I had accidentally used ORS no lye extra strength relaxer instead of the normal one I always use!

For the past two weeks, my hair has been shedding/falling out more then it has ever done in my life and I just don't know what to do. I do know it's shedding and not breaking because I see the white bulb at the root. The hair at my roots feels crunchy/spongy, while the rest feels the same (obviously, because it wasn't relaxed). The hair at the roots also feels like a different texture - it's almost a bit curly and tangled. I don't know what I can do to help this situation and it's heartbreaking for me because I tried to be positively diligent with my hair. I have been scouring the forum archives for advice and decided to post my (first ever) post today for help. So ANY advice would be much appreciated. I want to cry every time I comb my hair. It seems as though the shedding won't stop.

OMG i am soooo sorry this happened..try using garlic products and also....Nexxus emergencee is NOT supposed to be used the day of the relaxer :nono:....It says it on the bottle
 
I know I definitely should not have used Emergencee...:( I guess I was just so terrified at all the hair shedding that I grabbed the closest thing in my shower! That is a mistake I will never, ever make again. Also, I don't think I am anemic or have an iron deficiency. If this persists I will see a doctor, but I take my vitamins (GNC Ultra Mega) every day, try to eat healthy, drink lots of water, etc etc. But the hair closest to the root (the overprocessed part) just seems so dry/hard no matter how much moisture I use on it. I'm not sure what else I can do at this point...
 
Back
Top