I Stopped Chemically Relaxing My Hair a Year Ago, But Can I Start Again?

Dear Balding Blog,

First of all, I just want to say how wonderful and helpful your forum is. The information provided is indeed valuable. I have an enquiry and I was wondering if you can help. Your views and advice would be very much appreciated. Please view the following points:

Important Facts

1. I am a 23 year old black female with a fine hair texture.
2. I chemically relaxed my hair on an 8-10 week average for approximately 10 years (i.e. from age 11 to age 22).
3. Not too long ago, I was stricken with thinning hair/traction alopecia to the frontal parts of my hair (temple areas) – I believe due to constant pulling and excessive brushing. As a result, I stopped chemically relaxing my hair as of April 2008. I also relieved my hair of braids and weaves as of September 2008 and since then, I have been wearing my hair totally natural.
4. To treat the thinning areas/traction alopecia, I started applying Rogaine (also known as Minoxidil) every night to my affected areas while also washing and deep conditioning on a weekly basis as of October 2008.
5. I have been using the Rogaine treatment for just over 4 months now and I am glad to say that it has brought about wonderful results as there is new growth to the affected areas.
6. Furthermore, my hair texture has relatively returned to a more natural state i.e. it is thicker and tightly curled.

Enquiry

By April 2009 which will mark 1 year since I last chemically relaxed my hair and 6 months into the Rogaine treatment programme, I would actually like to return to chemically relaxing my hair.

1. Do you think it would be OK to do this?
2. If so, what Chemical Relaxers do you recommend? I have always used Dark & Lovely Beautiful Beginnings Childrens Relaxer (for fine hair types) due to my fine hair texture. It has always done the job. However, I have been advised to switch from ‘no-lye’ to ‘lye’ relaxers as they are less harsh.

I look forward to hearing from you. Kind regards

I appreciate your specifics in the email. I would stick with your Rogaine treatment since you’re getting great results. Lye is dangerous. Your experience with relaxers has not been great, so why would you expect that a repeat of the process won’t do the same thing? It’s possible that you just had too much chemical damage from treating your hair and your hair is healthier due to stopping the processing, but is it a risk you are willing to take?