Is not combing hair harmful before a relaxer?

[mochahunny7]

Hey guys,
After a year of mebership, I have officially graduated from LA...Lurkers Anonymous lol lol

Here's my question:

I have 4a/4b hair type about 3 inches from brastrap, that is very thick. I relax approximately every 8 weeks with about growth 3/4 inch in the front (4a), 1 inch in the middle (4b), and 1 1/2 inches in the back(4a).

Because my hair so thick, I always tend to not comb it at all, especially the middle section. I always think that b/c the textures between the relaxed strands and the new growth are so different that if I do comb it, it will break off, so I might as well wait until I relax so to minimize breakage and natural shedding will occur.
So when I hit the 5 or 6 week mark I spray it with waterevery day, throw a little gel in the front and just brush the edges. The hair in the middle ends up getting really tangled and on relaxer day i have a moderate to large amount of long strands in the sink.

Do you think that this is harming my hair?

Thanks a million,
Allison

by the way, I will get some pics online soon!

 

[Elizabeth26]

Hey, don't not combing slows down how fast you can apply the relaxer within the timeframe. I think you should comb your hair before the relaxer to prevent breakage and so you can apply the relaxer as fast as possible. You can put the conditioner on your hair then comb through. It should be easier to comb with conditioner in your hair. Before you apply the relaxer take a wide tooth comb and start from the ends. Then part your hair in sections and it should be much easier to manuever through. Thats just my two cents. The experts should be along to help you out.

 

[uofmpanther]

Hey guys,
Because my hair so thick, I always tend to not comb it at all, especially the middle section. I always think that b/c the textures between the relaxed strands and the new growth are so different that if I do comb it, it will break off, so I might as well wait until I relax so to minimize breakage and natural shedding will occur.

I used to do the same thing until my stylist begged me to stop. It actually made relaxing more difficult to go into it with tangled roots b/c you are irritating the scalp when you finally do have to comb it during relaxing. Just comb it gently, the more new growth you have, but don't stop combing altogether.

 

[Faith]

I am learning that detangling your hair BEFORE relaxing is a GOOD idea cause once you relax and the hair gets wet..plus all that shed hair...it's harder to comb/detangle afterwards. If you can do it before, avoiding your scalp.

 

[leleepop]

I recently did not comb and it took forever to get through the hair. You have to be very quick if you do not comb. There is a thread in Cathy Howse's website ubh publications about this in the news part of her website. I know I will follow this exactly the next time I relax. She says she uses her lotion creme after her stretches and SLOWLY and CAREFULLY detangles with fingers and wide tooth comb.hth