Chemical Hair Relaxers Have Adverse Effects a Myth or Reality

CONTEXT: Hair plays an important role in one's personality and builds confidence. Now-a-days, chemical hair relaxers are used very commonly in the society. We document the adverse effects reported by the sample that have used any one of the professional chemical hair relaxers. AIM: To study the adverse effects reported by the sample who underwent repeated chemical hair relaxing. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Cross-sectional questionnaire based study done on a sample taken from a medical college and hospital campus in Mangalore. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sample was restricted to females and to those who underwent it more than once. A questionnaire was given to a sample of 90, which matched our criteria. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: SPSS software 17. RESULTS: Adverse effects reported by the sample after undergoing the procedure were found to be a high 95.56%, out of which the following are the common adverse effects reported; frizzy hair in 67%, dandruff in 61%, hair loss in 47%, thinning and weakening of hair in 40%, greying of hair 22%, and split ends in only 17%. CONCLUSIONS: Very few studies have been conducted on the adverse effects of hair straightening products in India. From our study, it can be stated that most of the samples had adverse effects, which was as high as 95.56%. Hence from the details elicited from this study, we can conclude that, usage of chemical hair relaxers does cause adverse effects and is “not a myth.” Thus, it is necessary to make available a less harmful chemical hair relaxer to the society.