Hair this Straight

There are good hair days and bad ones, followed by those that even salons can’t fix. Despite the growing craze of hair strengthening and smoothing treatments, there seems to be an alarming concern about its possible side effects. Amidst these concerns, there has been a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, that mentioned a 26-year-old woman who had recently suffered kidney damage after undergoing a hair-strengthening procedure. This procedure likely involved the presence of glyoxylic acid. The woman quite naively had undergone the treatment at the same salon three times, each year from 2020 to 2022. However, that’s not to it. Prolonged and continuous use of hair-strengthening treatments has led to serious repercussions for customers, who venture out into salons, believing these to serve as beautification cathedrals. Only to be soon disappointed at the very cost, both economic and emotional that seems to be dumped upon them.

Expert Views

Shedding light on the possible ill effects of these treatments, Dr Dadithota Gopichand, Consultant Dermatologist and Gold medalist in Pharmacology says, “The compounding effect of multiple chemicals of shampoos, conditioners, serum, a multitude of hair tonics can be cumulative and hence, exponential.”

He further, speaks of irritant dermatitis, scalp pyoderma, secondary alopecia, scarring of the scalp, increase in dandruff proneness to be some of the many ill effects associated with long-term hair-strengthening treatments. While these effects may be draining for clients, Dr Gopichand quite interestingly talks of how these effects could further be bifurcated into categories of physical, intellectual, and emotional effects. He opines that the ‘physical’ ill-effects would be damage to one’s hair growth cycle, hair roots etc. While what one oversees is the intellectual and emotional draining effects these have on individuals. He says, “Intellectual effects could be ‘logical sounding of products & services with techno-sounding terms’ making one believe in the claims put forth”. However, he believes that the emotional effects could quite drastically be an addiction to one or more Rx protocols. He adds, “One ‘feels’ inadequate or insufficient if a treatment session isn’t taken at a stated time”

Treatment Time

So, what serves as an ideal wait time to forgo such treatments? “Two months,” says Dr Gopichand. He also opines that shampoo addiction perhaps is the biggest addiction in the Nation. He quite firmly believes that scalp wash & hair wash don’t necessarily require shampoo. He adds, “Shampoo without its need generates dependency and other issues.”

Hair Stylists Speak

While experts have valid concerns about such treatments, hair stylists around too, seem to be quite in agreement and push towards awareness in this regard. Dipannita Halder, a makeup artist and hair stylist from Mumbai speaks of the frequency with which one should opt for such treatments. She says, “For chemical straightening, an individual should wait for a good six to eight months to avoid any excessive damage.” She also adds, “The main reason here being the use of harsh chemicals and high-intensity heat.” She emphasizes the importance of appropriate ‘aftercare’ routines which could help maintain a balance between treatments done and the amount of damage caused.

With a concerned tone, she further talks about promoting the benefit of natural hair care alternatives and treatments. This she believes would provide healthier options . In her opinion, this would also serve as a much-needed ‘break from chemicals.’

Concerned Customers

Despite some form of awareness being claimed to have been spread by salons around, Zainab Shaikh, an Assistant teacher from Mumbai seems to be quite concerned as well as feels hooked into going for hair treatments after treatments. Sharing her experiences she speaks of how these advanced hair treatments make the scalp dry out and shed, thereby causing severe dandruff and uncontrolled hair fall. “I have experienced that the growth of my hair in terms of its length and volume has slowed down considerably.” She further shares how the texture of her hair has worsened.

Awareness Needed

Despite the many precautionary measures that could help treat excessive ill effects of hair treatments, homemade hair masks made from natural ingredients like avocado, honey, yoghurt, and eggs could prove beneficial. These in a way could act as natural substitutes to help condition the hair, avoiding further hair damage.

For chemical straightening, an individual should wait for a good six to eight months in order to avoid any excessive damage” — Dipannita Halder, Makeup artist & Hairstylist

One ‘feels’ inadequate or insufficient if a treatment session isn’t taken at a stated time” — Dr. Dadithota Gopichand, Consultant Dermatologist and Gold medalist in Pharmacology, Vizag

Most people who take such treatments are sadly fooled by salon’s who ask customers to take treatments frequently” — Zainab Shaikh, Assistant English teacher from Mumbai