prettypuff1
New Member
I think i had scab hair the first time i went natural. My hair came in at 4b. now when i see my NG it is more like 3c/3b.. I am not sure what is the difference. i was natural for a few months before i went texlaxed...
how long before texture comes in????
- Thread starter SSBD
- Start date
I don't think it has anything to do with chemicals floating around in your system or anything, but rather the much simpler and more sensible explanation that the hair follicles have been damaged in some way by consistent application of the relaxer. It's not the chemicals themselves lingering and affecting the hair directly, it's the damage they did when they were first applied.
Some people will lose hair completely (hair falling out in patches) over a single relaxer application, and the hair doesn't just grow back regularly if the scalp has been damaged. Clearly relaxer can affect the follicles themselves if it gets on the scalp. And so it makes perfect sense that even though your relaxer may not cause that kind of visible damage, it can still be causing fairly minute damage to your scalp/hair follicles if you relax frequently. You just never notice the effects if you continue to relax as usual. It's when people decide to stop relaxing that they can tell their hair feels rough, doesn't act right, etc.
And once they've given their scalp enough time to do whatever healing it needs to do, then their hair starts growing more normally. This time period would obviously be different from person to person depending on their relaxing habits and how much damage there is. That's why some people have long periods of scab hair and some have only a little bit. And just as LynnieB mentioned, a lot of people who have scab hair tend to have it in the area they routinely applied the relaxer to first. It has been my general observation (only based on things that people have reported themselves in past threads on scab hair) that people like myself, who had/have no scab hair were not frequent relaxers (their scalps had more time to heal before the next touchup, so the cumulative effects were negligible), or usually rinsed the relaxer out quickly (not much damage was done to begin with). Or perhaps their scalps were just healthier in general (for diet and grooming reasons) and so they repaired themselves faster.
Anyway, my point is the idea of scab hair is not far-fetched at all. I think some people doubt it because of the way people suggest it's because of "chemicals lingering in your system" (which IMO is far-fetched).
Some people will lose hair completely (hair falling out in patches) over a single relaxer application, and the hair doesn't just grow back regularly if the scalp has been damaged. Clearly relaxer can affect the follicles themselves if it gets on the scalp. And so it makes perfect sense that even though your relaxer may not cause that kind of visible damage, it can still be causing fairly minute damage to your scalp/hair follicles if you relax frequently. You just never notice the effects if you continue to relax as usual. It's when people decide to stop relaxing that they can tell their hair feels rough, doesn't act right, etc.
And once they've given their scalp enough time to do whatever healing it needs to do, then their hair starts growing more normally. This time period would obviously be different from person to person depending on their relaxing habits and how much damage there is. That's why some people have long periods of scab hair and some have only a little bit. And just as LynnieB mentioned, a lot of people who have scab hair tend to have it in the area they routinely applied the relaxer to first. It has been my general observation (only based on things that people have reported themselves in past threads on scab hair) that people like myself, who had/have no scab hair were not frequent relaxers (their scalps had more time to heal before the next touchup, so the cumulative effects were negligible), or usually rinsed the relaxer out quickly (not much damage was done to begin with). Or perhaps their scalps were just healthier in general (for diet and grooming reasons) and so they repaired themselves faster.
Anyway, my point is the idea of scab hair is not far-fetched at all. I think some people doubt it because of the way people suggest it's because of "chemicals lingering in your system" (which IMO is far-fetched).
NewYorkgyrl
Well-Known Member
thanks Black Cardinal for such an informational post.
I wish my camera was working so that I can show a picture of my scab hair... It is mostly in one spot and I know it is scab hair because I have not done the BC yet and the texture of the scab part is MUCH different than the hair that has grown in much recently.
And to those that think it is just the line of decarmation..please think again. Because in my case I can CLEARLY see 4 hair types on ONE SINGLE STRAND. I am able to see this because I have 65 weeks transitioning to look at. There is the relaxed part. There is the line of decarmation..which by the way in my case is not a broad thick band, in other words it is clear to see were the relaxer stops and ends. Then the third type is the scab hair which is everything that only one who has had scab hair can describe. And the last and more recent hair that is growing out is much softer and like the natural hair growing out in other areas of my head.
So there is MY PERSONAL description on what scab hair may look like on a long transitioner who has not done the BC and can clearly examine the transformation. I wish my camera was working....
I wish my camera was working so that I can show a picture of my scab hair... It is mostly in one spot and I know it is scab hair because I have not done the BC yet and the texture of the scab part is MUCH different than the hair that has grown in much recently.
And to those that think it is just the line of decarmation..please think again. Because in my case I can CLEARLY see 4 hair types on ONE SINGLE STRAND. I am able to see this because I have 65 weeks transitioning to look at. There is the relaxed part. There is the line of decarmation..which by the way in my case is not a broad thick band, in other words it is clear to see were the relaxer stops and ends. Then the third type is the scab hair which is everything that only one who has had scab hair can describe. And the last and more recent hair that is growing out is much softer and like the natural hair growing out in other areas of my head.
So there is MY PERSONAL description on what scab hair may look like on a long transitioner who has not done the BC and can clearly examine the transformation. I wish my camera was working....
Ms Lala
Well-Known Member
I don't know why but for the first 4-5 months of going natural my hair was more brittle dry and hard then my current texture. I'd never heard the term scab hair but I do believe the chemicals affected my scalp or hair follicles somehow. I ended up cutting the hair because it was harder to manage than the rest. I thought it was odd but I see others experienced this also.
Similar threads
