I flat ironed my hair last month and a large portion of it is now heat damaged. Some parts are totally straight. I had been thinking of relaxing my hair before the damage but decided to wait until next year. Now that it's damaged, I want to go ahead and relax it. Is it too soon? Is it a good idea? It's also falling out, I'm not sure if it's breaking or shedding. At this point I feel I don't have much to lose if I relax it since it's damaged anyway.
Is It Ok To Relax Hair After Heat Damage?
- Thread starter abioni
- Start date
I've been natural since my last relaxer in 2007 but I would think you don't want to further stress your hair by relaxing right now. Especially since you say it's falling out. I would baby it for a few months and go in full protective mode before doing any type of chemical treatment. Try Olaplex it has helped me with my heat damage.
LostInAdream
Well-Known Member
I would try to figure out the cause of the shedding or breakage first.
Evolving78
Well-Known Member
What have you been doing to your hair since?
Evolving78
Well-Known Member
The breakage could be coming from that, but what regime for washing, conditioning and what products are you using?
What is your hair length too?
Maybe you can roller set and bun?
I'm APL natural until this heat damage. My hair is too kinky for roller set. At this point I don't think I care anymore. I will just relax it and take it from there.
sunnieb
Well-Known Member
I'd say take a couple of weeks to really baby your hair and then relax.
I'm talking about being on your hair game- dc'ing, no heat, protein/moisture balance, daily protective styling, and maybe even a trim.
The main thing in my opinion is to get your breakage under control. Once I began doing protein dc's early in my hair journey, my breakage stopped almost immediately.
Also make sure you are drinking enough clear water and eating relatively healthy. This will help strengthen your hair from the inside while you repair what's going on with the outside.
I'm talking about being on your hair game- dc'ing, no heat, protein/moisture balance, daily protective styling, and maybe even a trim.
The main thing in my opinion is to get your breakage under control. Once I began doing protein dc's early in my hair journey, my breakage stopped almost immediately.
Also make sure you are drinking enough clear water and eating relatively healthy. This will help strengthen your hair from the inside while you repair what's going on with the outside.
Evolving78
Well-Known Member
No you can roller set! Go into the setting 2017 thread and you will see! Roller setting can help with stretching and give you a break from heat styling. But if you are experiencing breakage, we need to get to the bottom of that. You can airdry your hair in twists, then bun, so you can get some moisture in your hair. Crochet braids and long term protective styling isn't gonna give you access to your hair right now.
Evolving78
Well-Known Member
NappyNelle
Kinky Coily 4A, Fine Strands, WSL
@abioni Please follow @sunnieb's advice. You don't want to relax damaged hair and risk that hair melting off. Baby your hair as much as you can, trim what you cannot salvage, and then relax it. After relaxing, I would stick to indirect heat and low manipulation styles until your hair is strong and healthy again.
mzhotniz86
Well-Known Member
NOOOO DONT ! See my pic ? Thats my hardheaded self after relaxing my already damaged hair. If it is just a certain section & you feel like you HAVE to relax your hair soon...then my suggestion is to skip that section & apply relaxer to the other parts of your hair only. Let that section grow out some with regular deep conditioning & trims. Once it heat damaged or even overprocessed there is no transforming it. All you can do is pamper whats left. Of its your whole head that's damaged, then i suggest you hold off from relaxing & trim the damage little by little
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