Relaxer Breakage

[Julia]

Hi all,

How do you know when it is time to get a relaxer. What type of breakage happens? Does your hair break all over or just where the new growth and old hair meet up? The reason I am asking is because I am on week 12 and this am when I washed my hair I notices ALOT of hair coming out. Even my hubby noticed it. Now I have been using alot of curl activator spray this week and have been putting my hair up in a french roll. I only used my fingers to comb it out so that I minimize the amount of manipulating. Could the hair that I am seeing be just my normal shedding that I have not noticed all week because I was not combing my hair as much or should I be running to the hairdresser next week for a touch up. I am trying to see if I can out off getting a relaxer until week 16. My roots do not grown in hard they are soft so there is no problem with combing my hair.

Does anyone have an idea of what is going on? I am noticing mostly long hairs with a few small bits.

Thanks ya'll
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[pebbles]

Hi Julia,

If you are getting a lot of short, broken pieces, then your hair is dry and breaking. I would recommend a protein treatment. You may not need something as strong as Aphogee, unless the little broken hairs are a lot. If you have long strands, and can see or feel a bulb at the top of it, that is shedding. Many women can hold off for a long time in between a touch up and have no problems, others cannot. If the long hairs you see have no bulb that you can see or feel, then chances are that your hair is breaking off at the point of demarcation (where the relaxed hair and new growth meet). In that case, you should have a touch-up soon. Hope that helps.

 

[Julia]

Thanks Pebbles/images/graemlins/rofl.gif

I gave myself an Alphogee treatment about 3 weeks ago and that reduced alot of my breakage immediately. The breakage that I am noticing now is a mix. of long hair with the bulbs and a few without. My feeling is that it is normal shedding. I am going to watch it for the next few days then I will know for sure. I really would like to be able to stretch out this time to 16 weeks.

 

[pebbles]

Hi Julia,

If you're experiencing a lot of shedding at this time, then I daresay that it may be from the cold weather. Do you currently live in a cold climate? I know it's like that with me. I experience a lot of shedding during the cold winter months. Oh well, can't wait for warmer weather! /images/graemlins/wave.gif

 

[Julia]

Yes Pebbles I live in Canada. Yesterday it was -28 degrees celcius which is approx -18.5 fahrenheit. /images/graemlins/crazy.gif That is cold. Not sure what it is today but I am staying inside.

 

[LondonDiva]

Julia

How many inches or regrowth do you have. Sometimes long periods in between can do more harm (breakage) and sometimes the best thing is to do a touch up, this will usually minimize the breakage drastically as there is no resistance between the two different textures of hair.

 

[Paris Belle]

I think you should comb your hair at least a few times this week (to remove tangles) and maybe even use a boar bristle brush (it does remove dead hair). When I do these things, I notice that there is much less shedding while washing my hair. If this doesn't work, it might be time to get a relaxer. They say that the hair is weakest the longer you go without a touchup because the line between the newgrowth and natural hair tends to break.

 

[Julia]

I thought I had about 3/4 of an inch (my hair grows real slow in the winter here in Canada) but it looks like about an inch and 1/4. I checked again, and it seems to be the hair with the bulb at the end. Not sure if I should touch up or not. /images/graemlins/confused.gif