Natural Hair: The US Surgeon General Explains Why Health Should Trump Hair

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If you do a google search for Black women, hair and exercise, 12.5 million results pop up. There are seemingly endless blog posts, articles, and videos dedicated to the dilemma so many black women face regarding their health and hairstyles. The ability to exercise freely without the worry of ruining or sweating out a style is one of the main reasons some Black women decide to ditch the chemicals and embrace their natural texture.

I know that in this forum I am preaching to the choir and this is not new news. But, in case you are unaware of the issue, this excerpt sums up the sentiment:

According to the American Journal of Public Health, less than 30% of minority women in the united states get the right amount of exercise, one of the reasons being "The hassle of keeping their hair looking good".

"They don't want to mess it that style up once they leave that salon, because it's like look what I just did, I just sweated this out, and now I have to go back and curl it the exact way she did it," says Hair Dresser, Kendra Johnson. {excerpt credit}

It may seem like a trivial concern to people with loosely textured tresses. I can see how straighter-haired women may not understand why their kinkier-haired counterparts would sacrifice their health and fitness levels for beauty. However, for those of us with kinky and curly locs, we understand the pressures that come with attempting to be deemed socially acceptable, especially in the workplace. Even with all the advances in the natural hair movement, many women (and men for that matter) continue to face discrimination and unfair treatment due to rocking their naturally kinky, coily and curly hair.

Well according to the U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin, this issue is serious and not just limited to African Americans. In a recent interview with CNN Health, Dr. Benjamin explains:

"Other ethnic groups would come up and say the same thing. I’ve heard it from Hispanics. I’ve heard it from a couple of my older white patients that I have at home. They’re saying I get my hair done every weekend- I don’t want to be exercising after I get my hair done." {excerpt}

According to Dr. Benjamin, it is as much about money as it is about looks.

"If you go out and spend $40-50 to get your hair done, you don’t want to go out and get it all sweaty and wet that afternoon before you got to show it off." {excerpt}

(Click here to read the interview in its entirety.)

While I did not get into regularly working out until a few years ago, well after going natural, I can totally relate to not wanting to mess up a fresh style. As most of us know, in addition to being expensive, often times a trip to the salon is time consuming. Time and money are precious commodities to most people I know and it is logical to not want to waste either. Now I have much more freedom with natural hair so workouts no longer phase me. (Ahem, when I am on my workout game. Currently my "game" consists of broken sleep and mommy time, lol. But I digress...)

After reading all of Dr. Benjamin's interview, I was interested in what others had to say in response and I scrolled through the comments. Uuuuugggh. Why did I do that? Sometimes I forget just how ignorant, uninformed, and down right racist people can be outside of my natural hair blogiverse. I guess one good thing always comes from it, though. Just when I think we are over-saturated with info about natural hair, my stuff included, I see we have oh so far to go to reach the masses. So many people still just don't understand Black hair and all its complexities.

Anyway, what are you thoughts on the interview? If you are relaxed/transitioning, how do you fit in both health and hair? If you're natural, have your workouts increased or stayed the same?

For some YouTube inspiration, check out this video from BeautifulBrwnBabyDol's channel. In case you don't know, she works out a lot and has many cute styles that stand up to her sweat sessions.Love her!

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Back At It...Albeit a Few Hairs Short!

Hi everyone! I have to say thank you for your patience in my absence. I had no idea how long I intended to be away but I sincerely appreciate all of you for hanging around! Being a mom is amazing and a LOT of hard work! So many new things to learn and I am finally starting to feel confident in my abilities. I love my baby boy and it is true what they say, EVERYTHING changes once you have a kid. Finally, welcome to all the new folks who have joined the site! I never dreamed when I started that anyone besides my mom would care to read what I had to say, let alone 1000+ followers, and I am humbled and flattered. Thank you all!

Speaking of changes, I am still adjusting to my new schedule, my new body, and my new hairline. Of all the things pregnancy and childbirth did to my physical appearance, hair loss was not one I seriously anticipated. I think we've all heard of post-partum hair shedding but I had no idea I would see clumps of hair literally fall out in my hands! Every time I wash I lose a significant amount of hair and it kinda freaks me out! I have always had so much hair, did not notice any real change during pregnancy, and didn't really expect to lose much after. Around month 3 post-partum, I noticed that things began to change.

I was taking down a set of mini twists that I'd had in for a few weeks. As I got to the ones framing my face, I noticed I was losing clumps of hair. I ran out of the bathroom with my hair in my hands, showing my husband in disbelief. "I'm BALD!", I screamed. Ok, well not really but I do have very short patches where my temples are. It's like a thin layer of peach fuzz is beginning to emerge but still quite see through!

My bday was last Friday and we went out on Saturday with the family to celebrate. Truthfully I had all but forgotten about the hair loss until I saw these pics:

(Pic 1- I got a cookbook! Is that a hint or something???

Pic 2- Blowing out the candle on my cupcake. I still have some pp weight to lose so portion control is my friend, lol)

I don't know if you can see but clearly I am missing some strands. I am not extremely bothered but I do plan on taking special care of these areas so I can increase growth. My plan includes eating healthy and continuing my prenatal vitamin (both are givens due to b'feeding), gentle styling, and massaging castor oil weekly into my scalp.

I perused YouTube to find some inspiration with the castor oil:

Seems like folks are getting good results. Hopefully after a few weeks these patchy parts will fill in! Out are tightly pulled back buns and puffs.

Have any of you ever experienced hair loss due to pregnancy or other causes? If so, what have you done to remedy it?

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What's Your Opinion: What's Next for Naturals?

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I have been thinking about this for a long time and wanted to get your opinions. I don't know about you all but it seems to me that natural hair is becoming more mainstream. Granted, there is still a long way to go before natural becomes the "norm", but compared to even just 10 years ago, there is so much information and awareness out there. More than ever, women are coming to embrace their god-given locks with pride.

It also seems that every day there is another natural hair product business, website, forum, you tuber, blog, etc cropping up to support, promote, and educate about kinky and curly hair. Talk about info overload!

So my questions to you all are these: What is next for natural hair? What do you anticipate will be the big issues of the next 5-10 years in this movement? What do you want to see bloggers and You Tubers tackle on their pages and vids? What do you hope to see in the media? Are we at the point where we no longer need to celebrate ever next person who goes natural or are we still just getting started?

Your thoughts....

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