Scab Hair? What The Heck Is That?

By: Bella of BellaNaturale

Twist Out w. Scab Hair Ends 

For the first couple of weeks of my natural hair journey, I seemed to be trimming straight ends off my hair just about every day after co-washing for my wash & gos. I assumed that since I did my Big Chop myself, I had just missed those pieces. However, as the weeks went by, I continued to see these funny undefined strands. I was able to trim my hair less and less as time went on, but as my hair grew long enough to for twist outs, I had issues getting the ends of my twists to hold and curl up. I began trimming the ends of my twists weekly, then biweekly, then monthly as it grew out. Little did I know that I was affected by scab hair.

Scab hair isn't spoken about often in the natural community, most likely because there isn't much research out there on the subject. Many people don't believe it exists, but for someone like me who lost many inches of hair to it, hair that was in no way leftover relaxed hair, I'd have to disagree. Scab hair is hair that grows out from the scalp that is still affected by years of using harsh chemicals. The hair is not relaxed, but it isn't your natural texture either.

Its just this awkward, stiff, frizzy hair that:

• Does not respond to products
• Does not hold a style
• Can take 6 months to a year to grow out completely. 

Bummer right? There isn't much you can do about scab hair. You may choose to hold onto your strands and do regular deep conditioning treatments to soften them, but at the end of the day, you will probably want to cut them off. That is my recommendation to enjoy your true texture with all its kinks and curls.

Have you suffered from scab hair without realizing?