Is it safe to straighten hair during pregnancy? & bull; hello healthy

In general, chemical treatments are safe, with only a few products that will penetrate the scalp.

To ensure safety, it is better to do only one treatment during pregnancy, or avoid it altogether.

However, if you want to straighten your hair, please note that some of the treatments below are safe to do while you are pregnant. A study shows that using hair straightening products will not increase the risk of preterm birth or babies who are underweight. However, this study did not examine birth defects.

Standard chemical straightening treatments include:

• Lye: contains sodium hydroxide
• No-lye: contains calcium hydroxide and guanidine carbonate
• Thio: contains thioglycolic acid salts

Brazilian Hair Care

Hair straightening treatments with chemicals originating in Brazil are not as safe as standard straighteners to use during pregnancy.

Hair treatment with Keratin (Brazilian Keratin Treatment, BKT or Brazilian Blowout) generally contains the chemical formaldehyde. Formaldehyde can penetrate into the body through the skin or by inhalation. This ingredient is found in many bath and cleaning products, but long-term exposure can increase the risk of cancer.

For this reason, several countries have limited the amount of formaldehyde that can be used in a product. The general limit is 2%. However, some keratin products contain 10% content. The UK has withdrawn some keratin treatment products, but many are still found online or in salons.

There are several formaldehyde-free keratin treatments, but be careful. When tested, some products still contained formaldehyde. Some formaldehyde-free treatments contain the chemical methylene glycol, which when heated with a hair straightener, can turn into formaldehyde.

For this reason, you can avoid chemical treatments for hair straightening during pregnancy. If you are going for treatment, avoid treatments that are labeled "keratin" or "Brazilian hair treatment". If you do hair care at a salon, tell anyone who treats you not to use these products.

Feeling good and looking good are important when you are pregnant. If you need a safe idea of ​​how to look and feel good, take a look at the Beauty for mom-to-be section.

Hello Health Group does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

x