How Bad Is It to Straighten Hair with Heat?

[HappyMan2021]

Much of my transplant hair is curly, rigidly stubborn, and impossible to tame un-styled, whereas my native scalp hair is tame, straight, and generally unremarkable. Whatever the root cause, this hair has been curly for 3 years now I assume it will never change...

I've avoided straightening the transplant hair with heat - like a curly haired woman would do - because it seem heat can damage your hair. But I'm wondering, does heat just make the hair strand (which is a dead fibre) a sub-optimal brittle, and ugly texture, or can heat actually damage the hair follicle, accelerate hairloss, or in any other way effect the hair growth cycle?

I don't mind having my hair be more brittle and less shiny if it does not have an actual affect on hair loss or the hair growth cycle. 

Would males be more prone to permanent skin/follicle damage since males generally keep their hair shorter and thus the heat is closer to the scalp than a long-haired woman?

I'm confused because there are tons of women who heat-straighten their hair on a daily basis, but I'm not aware of an epidemic of these same women having hair loss or hair growth issues due to the heat...I imagine even if they are using a heat protector, there is still some "damage" getting done.

 

TLDR: Heat seems to be the strongest method to straighten curly hair. How would heat straightening specifically impact my hair loss and hair growth as a hair transplant patient? As long as there is no damage to the follicle, skin and no effect to hair growth, I wouldn't care if the dead hair texture is more brittle as long as it straightens my curls. This brittle hair would be trimmed during my next haircut anyway. 

 

Edited January 22, 2022 by SadMan2021

[mmokin]

2 hours ago, SadMan2021 said:

Much of my transplant hair is curly, rigidly stubborn, and impossible to tame un-styled, whereas my native scalp hair is tame, straight, and generally unremarkable. Whatever the root cause, this hair has been curly for 3 years now I assume it will never change...

I've avoided straightening the transplant hair with heat - like a curly haired woman would do - because it seem heat can damage your hair. But I'm wondering, does heat just make the hair strand (which is a dead fibre) a sub-optimal brittle, and ugly texture, or can heat actually damage the hair follicle, accelerate hairloss, or in any other way effect the hair growth cycle?

I don't mind having my hair be more brittle and less shiny if it does not have an actual affect on hair loss or the hair growth cycle. 

Would males be more prone to permanent skin/follicle damage since males generally keep their hair shorter and thus the heat is closer to the scalp than a long-haired woman?

I'm confused because there are tons of women who heat-straighten their hair on a daily basis, but I'm not aware of an epidemic of these same women having hair loss or hair growth issues due to the heat...I imagine even if they are using a heat protector, there is still some "damage" getting done.

 

TLDR: Heat seems to be the strongest method to straighten curly hair. How would heat straightening specifically impact my hair loss and hair growth as a hair transplant patient? As long as there is no damage to the follicle, skin and no effect to hair growth, I wouldn't care if the dead hair texture is more brittle as long as it straightens my curls. This brittle hair would be trimmed during my next haircut anyway. 

 

no there is of course no damage to the hair follicle itself, if you heat your hair often you will experience breakage which is just your hair snapping in half due to it getting brittle, but there is no affect on anything in the scalp

[mmokin]

the only way to get hair loss from straightening your hair is if you use those chemical straighteners as they can actually damage your scalp if left on for too long

[HappyMan2021]

3 minutes ago, mmokin said:

the only way to get hair loss from straightening your hair is if you use those chemical straighteners as they can actually damage your scalp if left on for too long

thanks. Even with the heat being closer to my scalp due to its shorter length than a woman's, that won't effect anything?

[mmokin]

2 minutes ago, SadMan2021 said:

thanks. Even with the heat being closer to my scalp due to its shorter length than a woman's, that won't effect anything?

i really doubt it, you shouldn't be able to feel the heat that intensely at all on your scalp

[NARMAK]

Use a well reviewed hair straightener like GHDs etc. and use heat protection spray applied beforehand and you have nothing to generally worry about. 

I would also say that bar really humid environments, or washing hair everyday, you won't need to use the straighteners again for a few days. 

I think there's taboo against guys using hair straighteners etc. but as mentioned above, as long as its not chemical, no harm will come to it. I actually used them myself to tame my wavy hair when i used to keep it longer and needed to sort it out for the swept bangs look even on the back of my hair to make sure the hair all looked uniform as the hair does take on a different look when straightened. 

Play around! You paid all that money to have hair, make it look good.

Edited January 22, 2022 by NARMAK

[HappyMan2021]

@NARMAK thanks! I remember in my other thread you suggested a hair straightener and I never got around to replying back to you, so great you found my thread here. 🙂

I'm curious, hypothetically, what negatively could occur if I didn't use heat protection spray? Even then there woudln't be any permanent damage in terms of hairloss, hair growth, the follicles? It would just result in increased brittleness and perhaps breakage of the hair strand?

And yes it doesn't bother me that hair straightening is seen as feminine. Curly hair is curly hair, and the same straightening method applies regardless of gender. 

Do you have a recommended heat protection spray? Ill look up the GHD hair straightener. 

I actually live in an very dry climate, so that helps as well.

At least in theory, hair straightening may be the sustainable, long-term grooming solution I need so I won't be forced into an arduous and complex repair journey...or at the very least give me enough breathing room where its not an urgency for me. 

Edited January 23, 2022 by SadMan2021

[NARMAK]

1 hour ago, SadMan2021 said:

@NARMAK thanks! I remember in my other thread you suggested a hair straightener and I never got around to replying back to you, so great you found my thread here. 🙂

I'm curious, hypothetically, what negatively could occur if I didn't use heat protection spray? Even then there woudln't be any permanent damage in terms of hairloss, hair growth, the follicles? It would just result in increased brittleness and perhaps breakage of the hair strand?

And yes it doesn't bother me that hair straightening is seen as feminine. Curly hair is curly hair, and the same straightening method applies regardless of gender. 

Do you have a recommended heat protection spray? Ill look up the GHD hair straightener. 

I actually live in an very dry climate, so that helps as well.

At least in theory, hair straightening may be the sustainable, long-term grooming solution I need so I won't be forced into an arduous and complex repair journey...or at the very least give me enough breathing room where its not an urgency for me. 

As a person with some sisters who liked to use straighteners, they had some heat spray lying around lol. 

In fact, i need to go buy some more but most supermarkets etc. here in the UK have like well known brands like Shwarzkopf etc. and they offer protection up to like 220 degrees or something, so the way i used to do it, was first you towel dry with pats till the hairs damp. Then spray evenly around your head and use a hair dryer (good quality dryers another solid investment) and something i probably need to research and buy, but generally a standard decent one will do the job. 

Dry your hair on a higher heat from a distance till you can feel the hairs got to that more "dry" stage but not fully roasted dry. Maybe even leave it a touch under. Then you can switch to a more cool setting just to settle the hair down from the heat. Now, one key tip is to keep the hair dryer further back when on higher heat settings, and then bring it in closer when on a colder setting because that's to help you coax the hair towards the direction you plan to keep the style. Then you can bring in the straighteners and don't make the mistake of grabbing a fistful of hair. 

You can pinch a decent amount between your finger and thumb, and place into the mouth of the straighteners maybe a half inch or so from the scalp and that's because i find that it's just nicer keeping that bit helps when you run fingers through or a comb when styling and also, you can probably avoid burning your skin with the straighteners! 

Oh yes, the first few times you practice and try to use them, or even after a while, you can hit your scalp and it's painful. It's not going to leave 100% permanent damage if done accidentally but best to take care. 

Then you can apply some styling product if you like lightly through the hair. Personally i like a matte look with a high hold but hair sprays a great styling add on, with high/strong holds my go to. 

My hairs a medium sorta length atm abd i haven't used straighteners in ages, because if i style it well with just a hair dryer and hair spray, the wavy look works for that shorter length of hair. 

In your case, i feel a straightener might help tame those problem hair a bit better. 

[HappyMan2021]

2 hours ago, NARMAK said:

As a person with some sisters who liked to use straighteners, they had some heat spray lying around lol. 

In fact, i need to go buy some more but most supermarkets etc. here in the UK have like well known brands like Shwarzkopf etc. and they offer protection up to like 220 degrees or something, so the way i used to do it, was first you towel dry with pats till the hairs damp. Then spray evenly around your head and use a hair dryer (good quality dryers another solid investment) and something i probably need to research and buy, but generally a standard decent one will do the job. 

Dry your hair on a higher heat from a distance till you can feel the hairs got to that more "dry" stage but not fully roasted dry. Maybe even leave it a touch under. Then you can switch to a more cool setting just to settle the hair down from the heat. Now, one key tip is to keep the hair dryer further back when on higher heat settings, and then bring it in closer when on a colder setting because that's to help you coax the hair towards the direction you plan to keep the style. Then you can bring in the straighteners and don't make the mistake of grabbing a fistful of hair. 

You can pinch a decent amount between your finger and thumb, and place into the mouth of the straighteners maybe a half inch or so from the scalp and that's because i find that it's just nicer keeping that bit helps when you run fingers through or a comb when styling and also, you can probably avoid burning your skin with the straighteners! 

Oh yes, the first few times you practice and try to use them, or even after a while, you can hit your scalp and it's painful. It's not going to leave 100% permanent damage if done accidentally but best to take care. 

Then you can apply some styling product if you like lightly through the hair. Personally i like a matte look with a high hold but hair sprays a great styling add on, with high/strong holds my go to. 

My hairs a medium sorta length atm abd i haven't used straighteners in ages, because if i style it well with just a hair dryer and hair spray, the wavy look works for that shorter length of hair. 

In your case, i feel a straightener might help tame those problem hair a bit better. 

thank you so much for all the information, more than I ever could have hoped for lol. As a man I am clueless how to do it properly so this will be helpful. Good to know about burning the scalp, I'll try to avoid that!