I know relaxers were stunting my growth, I gave them a whirl for nearly 30 years, tried every kind of relaxer, many different stylists and always ended up at about the same length and with the same problems. Almost two years natural now and my hair has surpassed it's relaxed length, it's back to my childhood length, and a year from now should be longer than it's ever been in my life, so I have to stick to the natural route. That said, some people do better with relaxers. Just make sure you've given yourself and your hair enough time to figure things out. You just might not have your routine down yet, or your hair may just still need time to get into it's groove. Also, when I first bc'd I ended up texturizing and my hair shed like nobody's business. Bc'd again and the shedding pretty much completely stopped. Whatever you decide, remember this is a journey, many of us have gone natural, relaxed, gone natural again, we're all just trying to figure out what's best for us and our hair.