Hair Relaxers & Your Health: What Black Women Need to Know Right Now
If you’ve been relaxing your hair for years, this isn’t a post to scare you. It’s a post to inform you. Because your beauty routine should never come at the cost of your long-term health. As a health professional, I’ve seen how often women’s health concerns get dismissed as “just cosmetics.” But new research is making it clear: some ingredients in chemical hair relaxers and straighteners deserve a closer look. What Does the Research Actually Say? A major 2023 study from Boston University’s Slone Epidemiology Center followed nearly 45,000 Black women for over 22 years. The findings showed an association between frequent or long-term use of chemical hair relaxers and an increased risk of uterine cancer, also called womb cancer. The risk was highest among postmenopausal women who had used relaxers more than twice a year or for over five years. The study did not prove that relaxers directly cause uterine cancer. It showed a link that requires more investigation to pinpoint which speci...