January 21, 2009

The Purging Stage

Transitioning can be difficult at times especially for some if they experience extremely dry, coarse and brittle hair when they first cut off all relaxed hair. This is an experience I went through for about 6 months or more. My ends were extremely dry and broke all the time, I experienced excessive knotting and my ends were constantly splitting. I used deep conditioners weekly and found Qhemet Biologics which helped me through this transition tremendously.
This stage of new growth is referred to as "scab hair" but I prefer to call it the purging stage. In the purging stage the follicles may still have remnants of chemicals due to relaxing the hair for years. The follicles have been damaged from constant chemical processing that they need time to heal at which point your true hair texture will begin to grow. The new hair growth should be trimmed frequently (every two months or more) to avoid further damage to your hair.
Dermatologists have advised that hair follicles can take years to recuperate and sometimes the follicles are so damaged that the hair may grow thinner, brittle and the texture may be rough and dull permanently. Everyone reacts differently to chemicals, I know that for me the less chemicals the better I am and my hair flourishes. This stage can be a test to many, some may think their hair is too difficult to manage and revert back to relaxers and many hold on and commit to making it through this stage with the reward of beautiful natural hair.

2 comments:

random said...

The stage I'm going through now. And, yes it definitely is hard. I haven't gotten the big chop though, although it is always recommended by naturals. I prefer to just grow out my relaxed hair. So far so good.

Natalie said...

Its great to do it gradually, your hair doesn't go into 'shock'