Do I have to relax my new growth

I took my braids out after 5 months and have about two inches of new growth. I decided to not relax it and just used an hot comb to straighten my roots. Im not ready to cut off the my 8inches of straight hair. My question is, is my hair going to start breaking off?

Do you want to know will you have breakage from using heat or will you have breakage from not having a relaxer for a while?

No you do not need to relax your new growth, but hang around and one of the most experienced ladies will go into more depth.
What I do know it that you will need to manage the two different textures of hair until you decide to cut the straight ends off so you might find that the products that work on the new growth might not work on the relaxed ends.
HTH a little bit.

Will it break off from heat or lack of a touch up?

Everyone hair is different but too much heat will eventually cause damage.. There are some people who use heat a lot but I am un aware of their situation.. Lack of touch-up some people experience a lot of breakage and some don't.. You just need to make sure that you are caring for your hair and that is has much needed moisture. Even when wearing braids your hair still need to be cared for and still need moisture.

I will start by saying this you do not have to do anything you don't want to do so if relaxing and applying heat to your hair is your choice go for it / will it benefit and lead you to healthy hair probably not , and if you also choose to no longer relax and start caring for your natural hair properly you should do that too if you stop relaxing and applying heat to your hair will it break off ? of course not but you will have to show your hair some TLC being that it will be very fragile at that point DC each time you wash , moisturizing and sealing hair every 2/3 days , using a good leave in each time you wash , staying away from sulfates , parabens , mineral oil, and petroleum will all lead you to healthier hair

rockinmommy wrote:Will it break off from heat or lack of a touch up?

It can break off from both if you don't take care of your hair properly. Moisture Moisture Moisture is key to maintaining healthy hair. I would suggest you deep condition weekly. in between wash sessions make sure you moisturize and seal in that moisture with an oil like evoo or evco. Have you considered wearing braidout/twistouts to minimize the heat applied to your hair? You don't want to damage the new growth by applying to much heat. And if you do use heat, use heat protectant. I'm no expert but I have been natural for 1 year and have learned a lot from the ladies here on the forum.

Not to overwhelm you during this time, but protein treatments are important too to reduce/minimize breakage.