QUESTION: I am truly impressed with what you are saying. I am currently wearing box braids and usually after taking out braids, you lose a lot of hair. What do you recommend? Also.. what is thermal pressing. How does that work and where can I get it done. Because I do wear my hair permed. ANSWER: Hi. When you take out braids, it will seem like you are losing a lot of hair because it is normal for everyone to lose about 100 hairs a day. If you wear braids for a few weeks, when you take them out, the hair that you would have lost on a daily basis will come out all at once making it seem like you have lost a lot of hair. The real thing to watch out for with braids is traction alopecia (see http://www.dermweb.com/hairinfo/06.html and also http://dermatlas.med.jhmi.edu/derm/result.cfm?Diagnosis=-1373577218). This is when you lose hair along your hair line as a result of certain hair styles. As you can see from the links traction alopecia affects all races. Tight braids put into the hair pull at the hairline, and will cause a loss of hair around your face. If you are having this problem you will either want to vary your hairstyle, and make sure your braids aren't put in too tight. Thermal pressing is when you take a hot comb (also called a straightening comb or a pressing comb) and run it though your hair to straighten it. It should only be done on hair that has not been chemically treated. It is the old fashioned way to straighten black hair. Some salons specialize in pressing, you just have to ask around. The key to success with pressing is to do it only on hair that has not been processed any other way, and to do it on hair that has been freshly washed, conditioned, and detangled, and to not overdo it with the heat so that you don't burn your hair. I talk about how to do pressing yourself in my book Twelve Steps For Growing Black Hair.

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