I'm Depressed About My Hair b/c of Heat Damage

[chocolate01]

Aww PB im sorry this happened to you. My mom wanted to press my hair to straighten my new growth and I wouldn't let her because I was afraid this exact thing would happen. I think the ladies have given excellent advice so keep your head up and keep us posted.

 

[BrwnSugaBabee]

Poohbear, I am sorry that this happened to you. My advice would just be to condition condition condition. Get a reconstructor,I tried aphogee and I hated it but, there are others out on the market that might be better. Try giving it a break, this always works for me. Try putting deep conditioning than putting your hair in braids for a month, moisturize the braids like everyother day, and I am sure you will get positive results! HTH!

 

[Mahalialee4]

Poohbear...what you smell is the sulphur makeup of your hair "burn off". (not to mention some burnt strands. If you were to take a few strands of your hair and put it in an ashtray and light it you would smell the sulphur from the hair....Sounds like you received a "hard press". You have nothing to lose by trying to get some sulphur back into the strand. I personally know of someone who brought their hair back quite quickly with using sulphur or MTG oil on their hair to put the life, elasticity and bounce back into their hair strands after using an acid based relaxer and the hair was very limp and thin looking and felt kind of hard. The hair is curling up now and is also softened. Your hair has sulphur bonds. You might want to try it on a section of of your hair overnight and shampoo it out the next day. See what results you get from that. It is worth it to save your hair from being cut off. Just do a section of about one inch wide from the root to the tip in a more hidden section. Hopefully after 2 treatments you will see some curl up starting to happen. If you do decide to try it, just saturate the 1 inch strand with the oil, wrap it in tin foil and fold it up under a scarf for the night. Let me know what is happening. I would really like to help if I can, since I specialize in damaged hair... Bonjour.

 

[AngelicRose07]

wow! great info!

good luck pooh! *hugs* i hope everything works out ok for you

 

[PhonyBaloney500]

I didn't know you went all natural already, Pooh.

So sorry to hear about this. Those hot combs scare me but hopefully you might be able to get some curl back in your hair, using that sulfur suggestion above! Either way your hair will grow back soon enough!

 

[kristina]

I'm sorry to hear about this as well. I can't believe all your hair loss its curl! Anyways, just wanted to express some sympathy- it'll work out. And better now than later.

 

[ChocoKitty]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune Pooh. I think Mahalialee4 has made a wonderful suggestion. In addition--just like everyone else--I say keep on conditioning. Try adding some honey to you Lekair for extra moisture.

 

[naptrl]

Poooh! I'm sorry this happened to you! Remember my pressing disaster thread! I have not gotten my hair pressed by a hairdresser since! Now I make sure I use a heat protectant and only use a ceramic iron...NO hot combs and definitely no stove thingy!! I say condition, get some braids for a while and if necessary cut off the straight parts after a few months of growth. I STILL have straight parts in my hair! It will be okay though...Don't chop just yet!

 

[ThickHair]

I say cu it off. It seems damaged and you can not fix damaged hair, no matter how many conditioners and potions that you put on your hair.

 

[shalom]

awhhhhh cheer up, poohbear. I agree with the others don't cut your hair just yet, slowly back away from the scissors. I had a similar situation a few months ago where I pratically burned the whole left (middle to back) side of my hair out. After a few months of conditioning and a little tlc the burned portions grew to shoulder length and this past weekend I chopped off 6 inches and all is well. Was about 4 inches past brastrap now above brastrap.

 

[Carlie]

Try doing a strong protein treatment (ex: Aphogee). That should strengthen your hair and help you to get your curl pattern back.

 

[sunshine91496]

Hi Pooh, I had the same thing happend to me at the end of March. I had been regularly pressing my hair since November (parents hate natural hairstyle, etc.) Anyway I was getting really addicted to it and did it every two weeks. Anyway, at the end of March, my usual stylist did it again, but this time it really looked like a relaxer, everyone i met thought i'd relaxed my hair again, and it did smell. Then the hair on one side of my head just started falling. I would be sitting at the computer and hair would just drop to the keyboard, since I had been natural for almost a year, this was really freaking me out. I ended up going to another stylist who pressed my hair, but recommended that I stop for awhile because she said whoever pressed it last burnt my hair. She said that when hair is burnt so badly it will seem almost like a scissors had cut it because the hair breaks/falls so evenly. So after that I said no more heat. I washed my hair and it did not curl up right away, it took about two or three washes. Here's what I did:

Wash with Pantene Hydrating Curls

Did deep conditioning treatment with Pure Jojoba Oil (no other conditioner)
Rinsed hair again with Hydrating Curls Conditioner and Suave Naturals Conditioner.

Sprayed Surge on Scalp and massaged

Sprayed Infusium all over head to add some protein

Then used Elasta Qp H20 Leave in Spray to soften hair.

I always use Curl activator before twisting because it softens thehair and did bring back most of the curl on the first wash and about 99% by the third wash.

I wear twist outs when not pressed I use my own mixture of activator, water, Bharangji Oil, Alter Ego, Jojoba Oil to spray each section before twisting. On the first wash I used Elasta QP mango butter on the ends of each strand to seal in moisture. I still use it but more sparingly now. i let the twists stay in two days and by the third day I was back to normal.

I do still notice that the curl pater is looser but its getting back to where it was. I have one small section in the fron that is almost permanently stratight (even from transtion days) it never curled up. But I can honestly say that it does come back. Just keep conditioning, especially in the first two weeks. I now wash my hair 2 x a week to keep in the moisture and I am about week 6 since the incident and my hair seems to be back to normal. Although I did lose some to breakage I probably willnot have to cut, jus wear it unevenly for a while.

Best of Luck and stay away from teh hot comb.

 

[Wildchild453]

I understand what you're goin through. My hair had gotten burnt in December and I'm still cutting it as it grows. I'm sorry to say that if you still smell that burnt smell, the pretty kinks are probably gone, but it'll grow back. Never fear, our hair is relentless

 

[Poohbear]

Hi Pooh, I had the same thing happend to me at the end of March. I had been regularly pressing my hair since November (parents hate natural hairstyle, etc.) Anyway I was getting really addicted to it and did it every two weeks. Anyway, at the end of March, my usual stylist did it again, but this time it really looked like a relaxer, everyone i met thought i'd relaxed my hair again, and it did smell. Then the hair on one side of my head just started falling. I would be sitting at the computer and hair would just drop to the keyboard, since I had been natural for almost a year, this was really freaking me out. I ended up going to another stylist who pressed my hair, but recommended that I stop for awhile because she said whoever pressed it last burnt my hair. She said that when hair is burnt so badly it will seem almost like a scissors had cut it because the hair breaks/falls so evenly. So after that I said no more heat. I washed my hair and it did not curl up right away, it took about two or three washes. Here's what I did:

Wash with Pantene Hydrating Curls

Did deep conditioning treatment with Pure Jojoba Oil (no other conditioner)
Rinsed hair again with Hydrating Curls Conditioner and Suave Naturals Conditioner.

Sprayed Surge on Scalp and massaged

Sprayed Infusium all over head to add some protein

Then used Elasta Qp H20 Leave in Spray to soften hair.

I always use Curl activator before twisting because it softens thehair and did bring back most of the curl on the first wash and about 99% by the third wash.

I wear twist outs when not pressed I use my own mixture of activator, water, Bharangji Oil, Alter Ego, Jojoba Oil to spray each section before twisting. On the first wash I used Elasta QP mango butter on the ends of each strand to seal in moisture. I still use it but more sparingly now. i let the twists stay in two days and by the third day I was back to normal.

I do still notice that the curl pater is looser but its getting back to where it was. I have one small section in the fron that is almost permanently stratight (even from transtion days) it never curled up. But I can honestly say that it does come back. Just keep conditioning, especially in the first two weeks. I now wash my hair 2 x a week to keep in the moisture and I am about week 6 since the incident and my hair seems to be back to normal. Although I did lose some to breakage I probably willnot have to cut, jus wear it unevenly for a while.

Best of Luck and stay away from teh hot comb.

Thanks so much for your post!!!

 

[kitchen_tician]

Pooh I'm sorry to hear about your situation, but ITA, I think your curls will return with time and deep conditioning.

 

[Keike]

That is great advice Mahalia . I wish I had read that some time ago. Good luck to you Poohbear. Do not be distressed so soon. You have many options.

 

[PretteePlease]

pooh i have the burnt smell after i wash anytime i use heat. i had a straightnening issue and after a few months it finally curled back up but that lil part looks like 3c instead of 4a so there is hope it might curl back up it just be a little more loose than the other hairs around it. hopefully with care i will make a come back. i'm sure it will all work out just fine. marybe you should take a break, try twisting and leaving it alone other than your wash day damage control routine. the twists look really good on you.

 

[divinefavor]

PoohBear,

I am sorry to hear about your hair situation. I'm sure it will get back to normal with some TLC.

 

[Poohbear]

pooh i have the burnt smell after i wash anytime i use heat. i had a straightnening issue and after a few months it finally curled back up but that lil part looks like 3c instead of 4a so there is hope it might curl back up it just be a little more loose than the other hairs around it. hopefully with care i will make a come back. i'm sure it will all work out just fine. marybe you should take a break, try twisting and leaving it alone other than your wash day damage control routine. the twists look really good on you.

the thing is, my hair can't be twisted anymore. It's bone straight. It's not gonna stay twisted.

I'm gonna try this daily washing and surging idea and wearing a scarf over my hair for recovery. do you think this will work?

 

[sweetpeadst]

the thing is, my hair can't be twisted anymore. It's bone straight. It's not gonna stay twisted.

I'm gonna try this daily washing and surging idea and wearing a scarf over my hair for recovery. do you think this will work?

I wish your hair will return to it's original state I liked the little twists!

 

[sprungonhairboards]

I personally have never had this problem. I can do anything to my hair and it bounces back even when I was relaxed. Thinking back I should have been bald years ago. I think it's made of part steel

But isn't it strange that us naturals are the ones who always have this heat damage problem? Now that we WANT nappy hair we have to be so careful not to permanently straighten it on accident. It would have been a helpful issue to have while relaxed. Relaxers on the other hand have all sorts of problems with reversion, underprocessing, new growth, etc. We can't win for losing.

 

[Browndilocks]

I'm sorry this happened to you PB. Stay encouraged. Remember that less is more, less is more, less is more. I'm a huge PJ and I can admit that if you really want your hair to grow healthy, you must know when to leave it alone. Leave the heat alone for a while. I'm talking months. Matter of fact, leave your hair alone for a while.

Remember that part of the reason why you BCed is because you were sick of all of the things you were doing to it. Length will come regardless on a well conditioned head. For example, the crown & glory method works because you're basically leaving your hair alone & conditioning every day. No Heat!! Think of grass or a flower that has gone for a long period of time without water and looks burnt & dry, almost dead. After a huge thunderstorm or a generous amount of water & plant food, you can go back and it seems as if the grass/flower has always been thriving. This concept can be applied to your hair.

Now is a great time to explore new conditioning methods & really get a solid hold on how to keep your hair hydrated, protected & shiny. Stay engouraged & remember that less is more. None of us like to be micro-managed as human beings. Stop micro-managing your hair and just keep it clean and conditioned. The lack of heat and manipulation may generously reward you.

 

[Poohbear]

I'm sorry this happened to you PB. Stay encouraged. Remember that less is more, less is more, less is more. I'm a huge PJ and I can admit that if you really want your hair to grow healthy, you must know when to leave it alone. Leave the heat alone for a while. I'm talking months. Matter of fact, leave your hair alone for a while.

Remember that part of the reason why you BCed is because you were sick of all of the things you were doing to it. Length will come regardless on a well conditioned head. For example, the crown & glory method works because you're basically leaving your hair alone & conditioning every day. No Heat!! Think of grass or a flower that has gone for a long period of time without water and looks burnt & dry, almost dead. After a huge thunderstorm or a generous amount of water & plant food, you can go back and it seems as if the grass/flower has always been thriving. This concept can be applied to your hair.

Now is a great time to explore new conditioning methods & really get a solid hold on how to keep your hair hydrated, protected & shiny. Stay engouraged & remember that less is more. None of us like to be micro-managed as human beings. Stop micro-managing your hair and just keep it clean and conditioned. The lack of heat and manipulation may generously reward you.

thank you for your post!

i found a very beautiful post from 2003 which helped me GREATLY in dealing with hair length:

"even though long hair is most of our goal, you are pretty whether you have long hair or short. pretty is a state of mind! beautiful hair is a matter of health, not just length. whether i fit a certain standard or not, i know i am pretty because my God made me "very good"! pray and seek the Lord for some CONFIDENCE! who cares what these other people think is pretty???! in God's eyes i am a queen!" -nissi