A new study by the American Journal of Epidemiology has linked hair relaxer use with uterine fibroids and early puberty in young girls.
From madamenoire.com:
“Led by Lauren Wise of Boston University’s Slone Epidemiology Center, scientists followed more than 23,000 pre-menopausal Black American women from 1997 to 2009 and found that the two- to three-times higher rate of fibroids among black women may be linked to chemical exposure through scalp lesions and burns resulting from relaxers.”
Every 6-8 weeks ever since I can remember (my mom says since I was 8), I get a relaxer in my hair. If you have seen Chris Rock’s 2009 documentary, Good Hair, or if you are an African American woman, you know all about the creamy crack. Hello my name is Clarity and I am a creamy crack addict. At about the six minute mark of this clip from Good Hair, you can see the effects of the chemicals on a soda can. And millions of Black women voluntarily put this in their hair all the time.
Like any other addiction, this one will be a tough one to break, but this new study definitely makes me wonder a bit more about what I put in my hair six times a year.
