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.