Hair relaxers harmful to children
A paediatrician at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr Frank Owusu Sekyere, has warned parents to avoid using hair relaxers on their children because they can cause head ulcers.
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He explained that hair relaxers contained some harsh ingredients which were harmful to the immature scalp of children and frequent use of hair driers could also affect the health of the children.
Dr Owusu Sekyere, who was speaking to the Junior Graphic during an interview, said this year, for instance, the Children’s Block had recorded two serious cases involving children who had chemical relaxers used on their hair. The effect was almost fatal.
Aside the health effects, Dr Owusu Sekyere said, it was not economically wise, as parents had to constantly spend money maintaining the children’s hair.
He advised parents to allow their daughters to mature before exposing them to such chemicals, adding that, that would ensure that their scalps and skin were fully developed to endure substantial bodily injury.
Dr Owusu Sekyere, however, added that the only advantage the numerous types of hair relaxers offered was the ability to kill parasites such as head lice.
He also called on youngsters to desist from wearing dreadlocks because there was a high tendency of bacteria hiding in their hair.
A parent, Madam Roselyn Dei, who had her daughter’s hair permed at age 12, said in an interview that she was not aware of the dangers chemical relaxers could pose to the health of her daughter.
She claimed that her daughter’s school permitted pupils to perm their hair and, she was also pressured by her daughter to do so, since some of her friends had their hair permed.
Madam Dei, however, added that even though her daughter complained of severe headache and some rashes after braiding her hair for the first time, she did not notice anything adverse after her hair was permed.
Seven-year-old Seyram, who has had her hair permed, obviously had no idea about the side effects of hair relaxers. She said her mother took her to the salon to have her hair permed.
According to her, she did not experience any pain when the relaxer was applied to her hair but was, however, not comfortable with the hair-drier experience.
On her part, seven-year-old Jemima who had her hair permed some few weeks ago told the Junior Graphic that minutes after her mother applied the hair cream on her hair, she started feeling some burning sensation all over her scalp.
The pain, according to her, subsided when her mother washed the relaxer from her hair.
By Ralph Dinko/Junior Graphic/Ghana