Q: I was wondering, and this may be a stupid question, but should you get a perm during your menstruating cycle? Does this have
any affect? I know several questions are raised as to whether if someone should get one while they are pregnant because of the effects
it may have on the baby. I thought I would just check, since the hormones do change during this time. Thanks.
A: First, let me say that this is a perfectly valid question. You are correct that both during the menstrual cycle and pregnancy a
woman’s body undergoes significant hormonal changes that can affect many areas of her life, though not, perhaps, in the way you are thinking.
Some women think that having a perm during the menstrual period could result in the perm not taking
well, or having unexpected results. This is rarely the case as the hair’s growth is so relatively slow, compared to the rate of hormonal
change. Most of the time, changes that occur which interfere with perm results only become apparent after childbirth when the hair
growth during the times of altered hormonal states is sufficiently long to be interacted with.
The greatest concerns to focus on with regard to perming the hair and menstruation or pregnancy
are sensitivities to the chemicals used. Some women, during their menstrual cycles or while pregnant, become hypersensitive to odors or
physically sensitive to contact between their skin and the chemicals used to perm the hair. It is important to always have a patch test
prior to having any chemical process done to the hair, regardless of whether you’ve had the process before or not.
There are women who experience periods of time after having a child where their hair seems to
resist being permed. This is often due to the hormonal changes that occurred during pregnancy and becomes apparent as the hair that
grew during that period of time finally reaches a length sufficient to be affected by a new perm attempt.
