Does flat ironing permanently "change" hair?

[afenrick]

I just read on a natural hair care forum that pressing hair permanently changes it's structure. Is that true? If so, is it also true for flat ironing hair? Essentially what was said that flat ironed natural hair had to be treated the same as relaxed hair. How can that be right?

[soblessed]

Pressing, flatironing, relaxing, and even texturizing does not permanently change the structure of one's hair. The hair that we get after shedding our baby hair is the result of genetic DNA. So, unless one can find a way to change their DNA after birth to make their hair straighter, there is absolutely no way that a pressing comb, flatiron, chemical hair relaxer, or chemical texturizer can permanently change any hair on our head.


Also, if that were true (which of course it is't), then people would have to get retouches down every 6-8 weeks. And, those ladies who press or flat iron their hair would hae no need to get their hair pressed or flat iron again. As, the hair would just stay straight like that for ever.

There are so many hair myths that are going around on the Internet, till its a shame!

[afenrick]

I'm not so much talking about brand new growth. I'm talking about natural hair that has been repeated pressed/flat ironed. Maybe I should just duplicate what was said exactly:

Question: "Is it a good idea to press out my new growth?"

Answer: If your ultimate goal is to be able to wear/style your hair naturally then relying pressing is out of the question. You are really working against your hair and you are missing the opportunity to get acquainted with your hair in its natural state. Pressing your hair can also subtly and not so subtly change the characteristics of your hair by breaking the natural bonds. No amount of washing will bring it back

Next questioned stemmed from a woman saying that after pressing her hair for years, her hair "wasn't the same" anymore. Here was the answer:

"Pressing alters the hairs texture ever so slightly and over time depending on your hair type, it can completely change the texture of your hair. So, yes you may have to treat your pressed ends like permed/relaxed ends and start trimming them away. . . "

What I'm trying to find out is whether there is any truth to that.

[soblessed]

There's no truth to that! Your genetic dna is what mandates what type of natural hair one will have. As, once you are in the womb eveything that makes you "you" is coming into form genetically.

First of all most Black people hair is born with a natural curl to it. So, even if you relax your hair for 5, 10, 20 plus years there's nothing that you can do to permanently change any strand of hair on the head.

When you are transitioning, of course you will see newgrowth coming in as one texture and then the older part of the hair, which is towards the ends being more wavy in texture. Because, no product or straightening method that is on the market today has permanent effects on the hair, then there is absolutely no scientific way that one's hair textured can be altered permanently (whether a little bit or a lot).

As, hair will eventually revert over a period of time (now there is no "official exact time as everyone's hair is different). There reason why people began doing Big Chop's to their hair is because they would rather not wait until their hair has fully reverted on its own. The word transition actually refers to the passage from one place or state to another. So, when you transition you hair is in reverting from a chemical state to a natural one. As, eventually unless you were born with naturally straight hair, the hair on your head that is chemically softened will over an extended period of time change in texture and appearance. Because, for the chemically softened hair to remain dramatically loosened, in texture, you would have to keep relaxing it for it to do so.

Now, I did transition and I did mini-cuts on my hair every 3 -4 months. Now, I could have actually just let my hair transition on its own without doing any cutting off of chemically looser ends of my hair. But, honestly there is no exact time table as to exactly how long it would have taken for all of my hair to rully revert on its own. So, by doing mini-cuts, I was in essence helping to kind of speed up that process, in my own right.

Also, flat ironing and pressing are temporary hair straightening appliances. And, the longer that they hair goes without having either of these styling appliances being used in it, it will eventually to start to revert. Once again, there is no exact time table as to how long this reversion would be complete, but "yes" the hair will over an extended period of time revert.

There are alot of inaccurate information that is going around the web today. As, alot of these people who are putting this kind of misguided information out there have not extensively researched hair and don't fullly understand the actual makeup of hair themseves.

[afenrick]

Good to know! Thank you for your thorough reply.

[samarabowling]

Originally Posted by soblessed

There's no truth to that! Your genetic dna is what mandates what type of natural hair one will have. As, once you are in the womb eveything that makes you "you" is coming into form genetically.

First of all most Black people hair is born with a natural curl to it. So, even if you relax your hair for 5, 10, 20 plus years there's nothing that you can do to permanently change any strand of hair on the head.

When you are transitioning, of course you will see newgrowth coming in as one texture and then the older part of the hair, which is towards the ends being more wavy in texture. Because, no product or straightening method that is on the market today has permanent effects on the hair, then there is absolutely no scientific way that one's hair textured can be altered permanently (whether a little bit or a lot).

As, hair will eventually revert over a period of time (now there is no "official exact time as everyone's hair is different). There reason why people began doing Big Chop's to their hair is because they would rather not wait until their hair has fully reverted on its own. The word transition actually refers to the passage from one place or state to another. So, when you transition you hair is in reverting from a chemical state to a natural one. As, eventually unless you were born with naturally straight hair, the hair on your head that is chemically softened will over an extended period of time change in texture and appearance. Because, for the chemically softened hair to remain dramatically loosened, in texture, you would have to keep relaxing it for it to do so.

Now, I did transition and I did mini-cuts on my hair every 3 -4 months. Now, I could have actually just let my hair transition on its own without doing any cutting off of chemically looser ends of my hair. But, honestly there is no exact time table as to exactly how long it would have taken for all of my hair to rully revert on its own. So, by doing mini-cuts, I was in essence helping to kind of speed up that process, in my own right.

Also, flat ironing and pressing are temporary hair straightening appliances. And, the longer that they hair goes without having either of these styling appliances being used in it, it will eventually to start to revert. Once again, there is no exact time table as to how long this reversion would be complete, but "yes" the hair will over an extended period of time revert.

There are alot of inaccurate information that is going around the web today. As, alot of these people who are putting this kind of misguided information out there have not extensively researched hair and don't fullly understand the actual makeup of hair themseves.

I just read this forum and I believe the women are talking about heat damage which causes the hair to become permanently straight. Yes, your new growth will grow in like that of your natural texture, but if you acquire heat damage to your ends it will be altered. I seen this happen to my mother's hair whom presses her hair with a very hot pressing comb week after week. Her hair won't nap up anymore. The only nappy part is her roots which eventually becomes damaged by heat as well, after constant applications of the pressing comb paired with heavy oils that fry the hair.

[soblessed]

Unfortunately, there are so many conceptions floating around the Internet.
Excessive use of chemical relaxer, straighteners, pressing combs, flatrions, or blowdryers does have the ability to cause damage, hairloss, or excesive split ending of one's hair. I have heard individuals say that they flatironed their hair, did one or two hair washes, and their hair stayed primarily straight. This is not heat damage. This simply means that the hair truly needs more time to revert back to its previous state. The individual is simply not giving their hair enough time to revert back.

There is no exact timetable as to how long it takes a person's hair to fully revert back to its previous state after consistently having it straightened. If one continues to regularly straighten their hair, then they are keeping their hair in a temporarily straighter state. And, this is caused by an individual's own continuous doing.

Heat damage doesn't result in a permanent straightening of one's hair. If one's hair is truly damaged from excessive heat, then it will show signs of having broken off in areas. And, a professional stylist would need to be consulted for help with such.

There is no product or appliance in the world that can permanently alter one's hair. If one consistently gets their hair pressed every week, then yes their hair will be reflective of a temporaily stratighter state. Her hair has only been temporarily altered. If hair could be made permanently straight by products/appliances, these items would only need to be used on the hair once. And, no follow-ups/touch-ups would be needed.

We are in our mother's womb, we are being formed genetically. This involves every major organ and part of our body, including our hair. Also, our bodies do go through many hormonal shifts. And, these are two naturally occuring factors that play huge roles within the framework of our hair.

[kaleisha2000]

I began wearing my hair naturally curly about 2 months ago. My bangs did not curl because I used to use a flat iron on them. After each wash they get curlier and curlier. It's nice to know that my hair will go back to it's natural state.

[soblessed]

Originally Posted by kaleisha2000

I began wearing my hair naturally curly about 2 months ago. My bangs did not curl because I used to use a flat iron on them. After each wash they get curlier and curlier. It's nice to know that my hair will go back to it's natural state.

Welcome! I am so happy to hear that you recently went natural! That's great!!!

There are a lot of myths floating around on the Internet. On the CURLS Forum, you will always get nothing but the truth.

I hope you have a lovely evening!

[Breezy]

From all the natural ladies I have talked to, heat damage is real. It's very possible to damage your hair to the point where it will not curl back up the way your newgrowth curls. You should always use heat protectant, and low heat when styling your hair with heat. And use caution! You can definitely burn your hair.

Sometimes heat damage is so bad that even after months of not using heat on it, it looks like relaxed hair that hasn't had heat used on it.

So to anyone using heat on their hair, just be careful, use a heat protectant, and don't let a stylist pull a hot HOT comb thru your hair til the point where you're smelling burning hair x_X