Stretching - How long is TOO long?

[graCeful_89]

I've talked to some ladies who have horrible results from stretching past their own personal time.

When I first stretched to 12 weeks, I expierienced some severe, imo, breakage in the back of my head. I think I'm going to stick to 8 weeks from now on.

Anyone else expierience breakage/dryness after a long long stretch?

 

[chebaby]

thats something i dont understand as well. some ladies always talk about alot of shedding when they stretch and i never understood it because when i stretch i can go as long as seven months maybe more. my new growth is never unruly and my hair only sheds if i don't moisturize.

 

[janeemat]

Personally, there has been nothing horrible about stretching for me. Since I began stretching which was towards the end of 2006, my hair has made a complete turn around. It has gotten much thicker (especially my edges) and longer. I believe that you have to begin in stages. My first stretch was 9 wks and then I went to 12 wks. I even did a 14 wk stretch last year and at the present time is 13 wks. Stretching takes patience and you have to be real gentle with your hair. Conditioning (deep) is VERY important when you are stretching. And you have to find the right cond for your hair. Once I begin to get a lot of ng, I only comb on wash days (Wed and Sat). Other than that, I'm using my fingers. I lose very little hair and there is absolutely no breakage. I make sure I properly apply my protein/moisturizing cond. I listen to my hair and it tells me what to do with it. Right now, I'm wearing a rod set and a head band to hide the ng around my edges. I'm thinking that I may get a relaxer Sat, so if I do, I will poo and do a protein treatment to prepare for my relaxer. Last year I got 4 relaxers, and I do not plan on any more this year. In the past, I relaxed every 5/6 wks. NEVER again! Thanks LHCF!

 

[pistachio]

For me being a 4b I never go past eight weeks, but I've learned that by ONLY combing through the relaxed hair, and only finger combing through the ng, has helped me ALOT. Most breakage comes from people trying to take a comb to the new growth and that pulls the hair at the demarcation line. eight weeks will be march 3rd for me, but I don't want a fresh perm before spring break to have it ruined when I go the the beaches, so I will wait until I get back(10 weeks post by then). SO this time I have no choice but to stretch.

 

[Dposh167]

its def. a challenge for some. I'm at 13 weeks now and i'm shooting for 20 (which is in april).erplexed

If u feel that u no longer have control over ur ng, then just give in. Right now I feel like i'm playing tug-o-war with my ng. I still have some control but not much left. If within the next 2 weeks, my ng seems to be winning the battle, then i'm just go ahead and relax.

its okay if u don't reach ur stretching goal! the more u try the better understanding u have about what works for ur ng...& how u can stretch longer next time around

 

[MissMasala5]

I got bad breakage from stretching before, but I was not caring properly for my hair then. Since finding the hair boards, I now know that daily moisturizing and regular DC's and protein keep my hair in a much healthier state. I am now 18 weeks post and have not suffered any breakage hardly. I plan to either go 24 weeks total, or I may transition to natural. Leaning toward the latter

 

[chavascandy]

I am currently 9 weeks post. I am not going to relax my hair until I'm about 13 weeks post.

By stretching my relaxers I achieve so much growth. I have found that shampooing with Creme of Nature in the green bottle helps soften my new growth.

 

[Caramela]

I'm also stretching. When I can't take it anymore, I might relax... although I have dreams of going natural. We'll see. So far so good.

 

[honeybadgirl]

i think everyone is different so it depends but now that i started texlaxing, i realize that i really should not go over 3 months. i have 3b/c but in the crown area, its a whole nother texture. its tighter and i have the most problems in that area. i found that i cant stretch long because of it

 

[It~Can~Grow]

I'll be 14 wks post on Thursday and this was my first stretch -ever. I think what helped me was I kept reading every single thread, post and comment on stretching. I would say around week 11 the scarf method no longer produced the pretty wave look it once did.

I dealt with it and learned to the love the bumpy bun look. I took pictures so folks could see how your bun really will look when your ng is outta control. At the beginning of the stretch process, I was under the misconception that as long as I washed, DC'd and applied moisture to my ng I would always have those bump'n waves...uh, no. When the ng is raggin all you can do is surrender and let it take over and put the comb down.

I do detangle on wash days, but even saying I detangle is a stretch considering I'm just moving my fingers and wide tooth comb lightly through my hair. I let it hair dry with lots of moisture, spray and oil applied. Once it dries I apply more eos and then smooth over the top. No, it doesn't look smooth but it's as good as it's gonna get.

I'm perming around the 1st week in March. I could probably go longer, but because this is my first stretch, I don't want to push it too far and to be honest, I'm gettin' a little tired of dealing with the ng.

 

[TriniStarr]

I am currently doing my first stretching....and i will be relaxing on my 14 wk to see my outcome. If my outcome is ok, i will cont to stretch every 14 wks...if not, i will go back to every 8-10 wks. I will keep u posted!

 

[HoneyA]

You have to be really gentle with it. Normally I stretch 14-16 weeks but I realised I shouldn't really go past 12 weeks. It starts to get really hard to deal with especially when I work out everyday and in the end it does more harm than good. If you can find a way to keep your hands out of it and not manipulate it too much, like braiding, after 8 weeks until whenever you decide to retouch, then go for it! I don't braid and I don't weave...anymore so that won't work for me. But I've decided when my hair says it's time for a retouch, I'm not going to argue.

 

[MzOptimistic]

I guess it depends on the individual. For me it is 11 weeks and I just worked my way up to that but personally for me, I just want to be able to stretch 12 weeks at a time. That's enough for me

 

[MzOptimistic]

You have to be really gentle with it. Normally I stretch 14-16 weeks but I realised I shouldn't really go past 12 weeks. It starts to get really hard to deal with especially when I work out everyday and in the end it does more harm than good. If you can find a way to keep your hands out of it and not manipulate it too much, like braiding, after 8 weeks until whenever you decide to retouch, then go for it! I don't braid and I don't weave...anymore so that won't work for me. But I've decided when my hair says it's time for a retouch, I'm not going to argue.

Exactly! I relax my own hair. Have been doing it since I was 16 (over-processing like a mug back then)anyways once when I was doing my touch-up my hair was so thick from the ng, I could not part through the new growth with my hands or comb fast enough. Therefore, I had to take my time, resulting in underprocessed hair. So now, basically, I relax when my hair tells me. When I notice my ng is getting out of control, I relax around 10-11 weeks. that's about the time my hair starts showing out!

 

[KathyMay]

40 weeks was too long for me, I should have transitioned or texlax instead of going bone straight my fine hair couldn’t a long stretch like that

 

[poookie]

longest i ever stretched was 12 weeks, and that was with braids, so my new growth was somewhat contained, lol

right now i'm 9 weeks post, and i've got over an inch of new growth + the underprocessed new growth from last relaxer that didn't get straight enough, so i'll be relaxing next week because i'm tired of having 3 textures of hair (from the root = springy 4a coils, after coils = bushy but soft supertexlaxed hair, after that = straight perfectly processed relaxed hair)

 

[girlyprincess23]

from my own experience....do what you hair is telling you to do!!! don't try to copy someone else b/c it will not end good 4 u!! that was the lesson i learned...i stretched to 18 weeks and after about 12 weeks the breakage got worse and worse and to me after i got a t/u my hair was thinner (to me others say they don't notice but i do) so now i will not be stretching past what i am calling the breakage point....if my hair starts breaking thats its way of telling me its done..no more.. now i notice i can go much longer if i keep it braided but if it (the demarcation line) is out and i have to wash it and condition and moisturize after a certain point it cant take anymore and that's just fine...i/m still going to do 12-20 week stretches just in braids, it cant hang out, the demarcation line is just too fragile. thats my personal experience and opinion since u asked!!

 

[janeemat]

40 weeks was too long for me, I should have transitioned or texlax instead of going bone straight my fine hair couldn’t a long stretch like that

Now that's a stretch. I'm shocked you did not cross over to the other side. Right now, I'm torn between relaxing Sat or not relaxing. My hair just feels so thick now and I love it. So, I know I don't want bone straight either, just straight.

 

[mstee eyes]

Now that's a stretch. I'm shocked you did not cross over to the other side. Right now, I'm torn between relaxing Sat or not relaxing. My hair just feels so thick now and I love it. So, I know I don't want bone straight either, just straight.

I agree with you, my last relaxer was October 20 and I know that I want to relax again but I just love how thick my NG is and my hair is still manageable.

 

[PrettyBlackHair]

Stretching for LONG periods of time is sooo overrated and can usually cause more harm than good. You are competing with those two completely different textures which is sure to cause breakage. I am no longer stretching after the breakage I experienced from my 6 MONTH stretch . I'm sticking to 8-12 weeks from now on!

 

[TLC1020]

When you have breakage and when protein and moisturizing no longer works.. I really don't have too much of problem stretching but when I decide to touch-up the roots my hair is almost always under-processed.
The longest I will go is 12 weeks, that's my max..

 

[LadyBlu]

I have done a 6 month stretch in the past, but I found that I get the best results by getting one relaxer per season. That equates to about 12 week stretches. It gets real ugly after the eight week mark! I'm still learning to deal with it.

 

[chebaby]

i forgot to give suggestions lolerplexed. i understand now that some women have a hard time stretching. i forgot that it depends on your type of hair also. i still dont know the true texture of my hair because my mother relaxed me at a very young age and i still get them. i stretch for long periods of time but sometimes you cant even tell my ng from the relaxed hair. i get shedding every once in a while and when i do i moisturize at night three times a week with mizani h2o night time treatment. i love this stuff. very rarely does my shedding get bad or out of control but if im shedding more than i would like then i mix the mizani with this shea butter and jojoba mixture from natural oasis and i do this nightly.

 

[Lady Esquire]

I've talked to some ladies who have horrible results from stretching past their own personal time.

When I first stretched to 12 weeks, I expierienced some severe, imo, breakage in the back of my head. I think I'm going to stick to 8 weeks from now on.

Anyone else expierience breakage/dryness after a long long stretch?

I once experienced HUGE globs of hair falling out after really bad matting.
And a few matting episodes followed. I realized that I was on the no-comb challenge, and I was drying my co-washed hair in a ponytail. I fixed that.

I have sinced made many changes in the way I stretch, and my hair is thriving now. I went from stretching 12, 14, 16, then 24 weeks. Eventually when I get to a certain goal, I will stretch to only 8-10 weeks, because I do not think it is necessary to stretch for very long periods to maintain healthy hair...just long enough to avoid overlapping.

Managing the 2 textures is tricky. For some, it comes easy and for others, paying attention to the demarcation line is difficult. Just depends on hair type, technique, products, and the combination of all three sometimes.

Rollersetting (and flat-ironing roots, which I have yet to master) works great to straighten out the new growth. Prepooing, regular DCing, occasional baggying, and just leaving my hair alone all helped me get back on the wagon.

I think many people follow what is said here, which is fine, but not EVERYTHING works for everyone. I learned this the hard way. Listening to my hair has been the best technique I have done yet!

 

[gymfreak336]

I once experienced HUGE globs of hair falling out after really bad matting.
And a few matting episodes followed. I realized that I was on the no-comb challenge, and I was drying my co-washed hair in a ponytail. I fixed that.

I have sinced made many changes in the way I stretch, and my hair is thriving now. I went from stretching 12, 14, 16, then 24. Managing the 2 textures is tricky. For some, it comes easy and for others, paying attention to the demarcation line is difficult. Just depends.

Rollersetting works great to straighten out the new growth. Prepooing, regular DCing, occasional baggying, and just leaving my hair alone all helped me get back on the wagon.

I think many people follow what is said here, which is fine, but not EVERYTHING works for everyone. I learned this the hard way. Listening to my hair has been the best technique I have done yet!

Let me go ahead and cosign your WHOLE post

I am at 11 weeks right now with more newgrowth than I have seen in a LONG time. I haven't had any major issues either and part of that comes from what I have been doing. Deep conditioning atleast twice a week has been the key for me and I wash my hair in sections. I use the force of the water and my fingers to part my hair in the shower. I concentrate the shampoo on my scalp and I don't rough my hair up with my hands. I still rollerset and even though it takes a little longer, it is not impossible. I concentrate my combing on my relaxed ends and I don't fight with my newgrowth just because.

Another thing that made my life easier is the fact that I stopped thinking about it. I tell myself, "I can do it", " I can be in control", and things like that and it really helps. I am learning not to fight against my hair. I work with it.

 

[Creatividual]

I agree with what everyone else is saying. You have to do what's best for YOUR hair. For me, I won't stretch past 12 weeks. I usually relax anywhere between 9 to 12 weeks.

 

[Knowledge is Power]

I've only been able to stretch for 12 wks. at a time, HOWEVER THIS TIME I was only able to make it to 9 wks. before I started experiencing breakage (and shedding). I clarified and this helped tremendously, but I was like, "forget this!" and gave myself a touch up. I guess you should only stretch for as long as your hair tells you to, not according to other ppl's standards. I just like stretching longer cuz I can physically "see" the growth...I watch my hair like a hawk ya'll!

 

[graCeful_89]

When you have breakage and when protein and moisturizing no longer works.. I really don't have too much of problem stretching but when I decide to touch-up the roots my hair is almost always under-processed.
The longest I will go is 12 weeks, that's my max..

Thats what I think occurred. It was underprocessed quite a bit and I let the stresses of life make me pull back on the hair care. When I got my next relaxer, it was already too late. Sigh.

Its okay thought, I'm babying the heCk! out of it now. Never again!

 

[prospurr4]

I am currently at 8 weeks post, which is when I would normally do a retouch. But, I am really enjoying my new growth right now, so I've decided to stretch to 11 weeks and relax on Good Friday (3/21). The longest that I have ever stretched is 14 weeks, but that was a little too long for me; I had matted new growth that took a while for me to detangle.

For the rest of the year, I plan to relax at 13 weeks 'cause I like the idea of relaxing 4 times a year. To help with my stretch, I keep my hair moisturized, especially during the latter weeks post relaxer. I wear a lot of low-manipulation styles like twistouts and buns using the scarf method to tame my edges. So far, my hair is behaving nicely.

 

[Hair Peace]

I used to be able to stretch for at least 12 weeks, but since I had the baby I've started relaxing every 8-9. The texture of my hair changed after I had her. It took me a minute to acknowledge the change, but I was losing more hair from trying to stretch longer than I could manage.

I think knowing when you need to adjust is important too. You can try a lot of different things u learn on this board, but you have to listen to what your hair is telling you first and foremost.