Why do permed heads thin/loose length over the yrs

[newgrowth]

I KNOW IM NOT THE ONLY ONE

I do have an affirm lye relaxer and have been relaxed for 8yrs. I do luv being relaxed. My hair is still thick and has not thinned(THANKFULLY)
I only know of one person who has obtained long thick hair for many yrs with a relaxer. Sooooo many heads I've seen grow long,lost their length/became damaged/thinned out. It seems like the norm with relaxers.

SO MANY TRESSES HAVE TURNED BAD

It's like beautiful hair today, gone 2morrow/weaved up the next.
Ive been so scared it might happen to me. After my hair gets to the length I want, I will be going back to my natural roots.
In this what would you consider key in protecting the hair from chemical damage over time?

 

[localhost]

Re: Why do permed heads thin/loose length over the

newgrowth-
I hope to answer your questions and concerns with this response.

I have been relaxed for a number of years, with my hair being retained around the nape area for as long as I can remember...until now. Relaxed hair has special moisture and care needs that I neglected to acknowledge. I straight-up abused my hair. I didn't wash, let alone condition, and I used a curling iron on my hair EVERY SINGLE DAY! After all, I wanted that straight and sleek look. So what I was doing, actually, was combing, styling, and burning dirty hair.

Now, as you can see from the picture below, my hair is a lot healthier and longer. I've learned to wash, condition, and do away with the heat. Those are key to retaining length.

Running out of time cuz it's time to go home (yay!), but I'm curious to read what everyone else has to say on the topic...

 

[adrienne0914]

Re: Why do permed heads thin/loose length over the

when my hair was shorter, it seemed to be really healthy. it had lots of body and was really shiny. i washed it twice a week, and conditioned every time. i didn't do deep conditionings... i still don't though...

my hair stayed the same length for years because i used so much heat. i blow dried and curled it twice a week to achieve that bounce and shine, and also because of scalp issues.

anyway, like sweetpea said, relaxed hair has special moisture and care needs. the key for me was finding out what they were and figuring out which products my hair likes. it's definitely possible to have long, healthy relaxed hair. it just takes a little more work...

 

[inthestars]

I think perms damage the hair follicles and scalp. I haven't had a perm in a year, but my hair is still easy to comb, so its obvious that perms linger for a LONG time in your hair even after you've stopped using them regularly.

 

[adrienne0914]

that could be, inthestars... or maybe your natural hair is just easy to comb.

 

[FineChyna]

[ QUOTE ]
inthestars said:
I think perms damage the hair follicles and scalp. I haven't had a perm in a year, but my hair is still easy to comb, so its obvious that perms linger for a LONG time in your hair even after you've stopped using them regularly.

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah i have the same problem.....i haven't permed in a year and it seems like there is alot of perm in my hair despite the fact

 

[inthestars]

[ QUOTE ]
FineChyna said:
[ QUOTE ]
inthestars said:
I think perms damage the hair follicles and scalp. I haven't had a perm in a year, but my hair is still easy to comb, so its obvious that perms linger for a LONG time in your hair even after you've stopped using them regularly.

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah i have the same problem.....i haven't permed in a year and it seems like there is alot of perm in my hair despite the fact

[/ QUOTE ]

That's exactly what I'm going through. The comb just slides right through my hair with hardly any tangles. I got a perm at 8 and before that, my hair was hot pressed from the age of 3, so I've never seen my natural hair. Now, I know that perms and pressing are for a reason, so there's no way that this is my real texture. Why perm if your hair is easy to comb?

 

[adrienne0914]

i got my first perm at the age of about 26 for my cousin's wedding. all the girls in the wedding got it done. i continued to perm because it loosened the curl. i've never permed bone straight.

just because your hair was pressed or permed at a young age doesn't mean it was particulary necessary. some people did it because it was "the thing to do." ya know? so again, if you've never seen your natural hair, how do you know it's not easy to comb? i mean what if five years from now, it's still easy to comb?

 

[caralexis2005]

well it doesnt linger in my hair because my hair literally fights the relaxer from the moment i get a touch up. i mean from the roots to the ends and def. the new growth. the only reason i think permed hair might look thinner as it grows is because hair breaks when its time for a touchup at the demarcation line. so less hair makes it to the longest point. but some people can completely avoid this by taking extra measures. it just depends on your hair, how you treat your hair, and how you use the relaxer imo.

 

[inthestars]

[ QUOTE ]
adrienne0914 said:
just because your hair was pressed or permed at a young age doesn't mean it was particulary necessary. some people did it because it was "the thing to do." ya know? so again, if you've never seen your natural hair, how do you know it's not easy to comb? i mean what if five years from now, it's still easy to comb?

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If its still easy to comb in five years, I'll believe its mine, but for now, I don't.

 

[joyous]

For me I think it was due to overprocessing. That's one of the reasons I stopped perming because my hair was thinning.

 

[ms_kenesha]

[ QUOTE ]
inthestars said:
I know that perms and pressing are for a reason, so there's no way that this is my real texture. Why perm if your hair is easy to comb?

[/ QUOTE ]

A lot of people who have hair textures that are "easy to comb" still have relaxers. Somwtimes I think in my head "man if my hair was her texture I would never have gotten a perm", but people have different prefrences and want a "sleeker" look so they perm or they feel their hair has too much bulk and they perm. Shoot white girls get relaxers and I'm sure many of them have hair that's easy to comb, but they still want a relaxer.

I'm almost positive that if you haven't gotten a relaxer touch-up in a year and your hair is still easy to comb then your hair is just easy to comb. If I don't get a relaxer in 10-12 weeks my hair is hard as heck to comb and that's not nearly as much new growth as a years worth.

 

[sassygirl125]

[ QUOTE ]
Why do permed heads thin/loose length over the yrs


[/ QUOTE ]

IMO, over-processing, too much heat styling and improper care. Any or all the above can lead to a hot mess of a hairdo.

 

[DelightfulFlame]

[ QUOTE ]
inthestars said:
[ QUOTE ]
FineChyna said:
[ QUOTE ]
inthestars said:
I think perms damage the hair follicles and scalp. I haven't had a perm in a year, but my hair is still easy to comb, so its obvious that perms linger for a LONG time in your hair even after you've stopped using them regularly.

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah i have the same problem.....i haven't permed in a year and it seems like there is alot of perm in my hair despite the fact

[/ QUOTE ]

That's exactly what I'm going through. The comb just slides right through my hair with hardly any tangles. I got a perm at 8 and before that, my hair was hot pressed from the age of 3, so I've never seen my natural hair. Now, I know that perms and pressing are for a reason, so there's no way that this is my real texture. Why perm if your hair is easy to comb?

[/ QUOTE ]

Alot of mothers didn't know how to take care of our natural hair as kids (I got a perm when I was 7), or were quick to slap a perm on it as sort of a rights of passage.

Could it be that now you know more about taking care of your natural hair, thus making it easier to deal with? That is the case for me anyway. I was so brainwashed and believed that my new growth was some nappy, hard to comb, monster...and it was when it was sitting up next to the straight relaxed ends- which by the way had problems of its own that I had been conditioned to look over.

I believe that over the years, perms begin to thin out because continued use of chemicals (no matter how mild a perm claims to be) cannot be good for anyone's hair in the long run.