Navigation
Hair Loss News Archives
May 2010
Hair relaxers can cause baldness
Research reveals hair-raising findings
May 2010
A new medical research report from the University of
Cape Town says using hair relaxers on children and younger women can
lead to total baldness.
Dermatologist Nhlanhla Khumalo, who works at the university and at
Groote Schuur Hospital, found that chemical relaxers cause
irreversible damage to the scalp.
Khumalo published her research in the Journal of the American
Academy of Dermatology last month.
She wrote that “the link between relaxers and hair loss was becoming
clearer”. The highest risk of hair loss happens when hairstyles and
braids are done on relaxed hair.
Based on a study of school girls and young women in Langa, Cape
Town, Khumalo’s research found that up to 70percent of schoolgirls
and adults were using hair relaxers to straighten their hair.
“For black African women, the most worrying cause of hair loss is
traction alopecia (TA) – the loss of hair which is most common in
the hairline as a result of pulling hair into a tight pony tail,
braids and weaves,” she said.
The highest risk occurs when the hairstyles are done on relaxed hair
which is already soft, she said.
Hair relaxers change the level of cystine – a protein responsible
for strengthening the hair.
“The end result is that the hair is fragile and brittle compared to
the original unrelaxed hair,” Khumalo said.
She said adding hairstyles like braids and extensions onto the hair
puts pressure on the relaxed hair, which results in hair breaking or
falling out.
Lucy Mibey, hairdresser and owner of Braids Sensation Hair and
Beauty Salon in Mowbray, Cape Town, said “the problem is that the
majority of African black people have no proper knowledge and
education about hair grooming”.
Mibey said many people who had lost their hair had passed through
the doors of her salon and that even dermatologists had not been
able to help some of them, she said.
“The hair products industry is a booming one, and unfortunately
quality hair products and relaxers are expensive and many people
cannot afford them.”
In her opinion, many hairdressers have “no knowledge at all” about
the dangers of chemical hair products.
Khumalo said: “If you do use hair relaxers, stay away from braids
and extensions which will add more weight to the hair – or else go
natural.”