Maggots In Weaves? What’s the Real Story?

On October 28th, a news story broke about a Kenyan woman who got more than what she bargained for when she purchased hair that harbored maggots for her weave. A panic among weave wearers quickly spread as the story snaked its way across the globe, with many questioning the quality of hair that is used for weaving, according to the Kenyan Standard.

The story began when the Standard printed a story about a Kenyan woman who suffered from excruciating headaches. After several tests, a doctor finally examined the woman’s scalp and discovered that the source of her pain were flesh-eating worms that were burrowing in to her scalp.

The worms had also laid eggs.

The weave story — which supposedly came from worm-infested corpses — was quickly picked up by news outlets across continents and includes a quote urging women to take heed:

Ladies [need] to be very careful with what they put on their heads…it is better to appreciate natural beauty and be content with what God has blessed them [with] instead of chasing artificial beauty.

But can flesh-eating worms actually thrive on hair used for weaving?

NOT! 

NewsOne spoke to Jenyne Raines, a beauty writer and author of the book “Beautylicious, The Black Girl’s Guide to the Fabulous Life” who maintains that women shouldn’t worry about the hair used for weaving.  “The hair which primarily comes from India, China, and Europe is treated, washed, processed, and sometimes dyed to make it ready for another person’s head.  So even a situation that is as far-fetched, as taking “infested” hair from a corpse would have been remedied via the rigorous treatment it would have undergone before winding up on someone’s head,” Raines contends.