Student Speaks Out After Damaging Hair Relaxer Causes Hair Loss

A Stratford student has spoken out after chemical relaxers left her with bald patches and a painful scalp. The chemicals in the relaxer caused such damage that Olamide Kupoluyi, 23, from Stratford, took the brave step of dealing with her hair loss by cutting her remaining hair off and attempting to 'begin again'.

A Common Problem

The student began using relaxers to treat her hair from the young age of five, something not out of the ordinary for women with Afro hair, despite the fact that it can cause a number of problems such as chemical trauma. In a picture that accompanies her newspaper article in the Newham Recorder, Kupoluyi's hair appears to be cornrowed, something else that can cause hair loss in the form of traction alopecia.

Even though the University of Westminster kept the relaxer on for just a couple of seconds as supposed to the recommended 18-20 minutes, she felt she had to wash the cream off immediately because it felt as though her hair was on fire. She added: "The fact that I could not leave the relaxer on my head for more than a few seconds scared me."

A Very Un-relaxing Relaxer

Discussing her reasons for cutting her hair off, the brave student explained: “For me, going natural was not about jumping on the natural hair bandwagon, I did not want to be 21 and not have hair growing out of my scalp. I was afraid I was going bald.”

Now that she has taken the plunge and gone natural with her hair, Kupoluyi hopes to inspire other young women to ditch chemical hair treatments, beginning with her two younger sisters, who have followed in her footsteps. At The Belgravia Centre, we often see women who have used tight hair styles such as braids or weaves, as well as chemical products like harsh dyes or relaxers, which together can cause real damage to the hair and scalp.

Whilst the first obvious step is to cease to use the above mentioned hairstyles and products, many women are unable to return their hair to its potential full health and thickness without medical help. Thankfully, then, the clinically proven medication minoxidil is suitable for use by women, and is licensed by the MHRA and approved by the FDA as a proven treatment for hair loss.

Available in a variety of strengths in with various added ingredients, the ideal minoxidil for you can be determined by your dedicated hair loss specialist, and forms the key part of our women patients' hair loss treatment programmes.