Hair is a big thing with black women, it is our pride and joy, our crown and glory, but for many of us who is experiencing hair loss, it can become a very traumatic and an upsetting experience, I guess it is the not knowing why these problems happen, but sometimes the cause of hair loss is most times caused by natural things like changes in your hormones and hereditary, but most times it is caused by our own doing to the hair.
Natural hair is delicate, fragile and is prone to breakage if not handled with care, for most of us that have permed our hair, you have to release the process in what the hair has to go through in order for the relaxer to work is a lot that our hair has to go through, also you need to consider when installing braids or wearing certain hairstyles if worn tightly can cause so much tension on the scalp and the hair follicles.
It is a good practice to ensure that we are healthy from the inside out, and of course having a healthy diet helps with the growth and well-being of your hair. Having a poor diet can have some effects on your hair. Taking the necessary nutrients and vitamins that your hair and body needs is very important, and eating the right foods will help.
Common Problems
Traction Alopecia
Traction alopecia is self-explained in the name, it simply means hair loss due to traction or pulling and alopecia is the partial or complete absence of hair from areas of the body where it normally grows;baldness.
This type of hair loss is noticeable around the hairline, temples and above the ears. It is caused by the following:
- Wearing tight ponytails
- Tight braids or cornrows
- Single braids
- Dreadlocks
- Wearing weaves or wigs that have glue attached, clips or tape
- Wearing clips tightly every day
- Wearing headbands every day
- Using rollers repeated can cause pulling on the roots
- Constant pulling and tugging with your hands
These are just the typically cause of traction alopecia, there are many more conditions than hair breaking off, you see if your hair is constantly being pulled it will pull the hair out of the root completely, or you will start to notice follicles becoming inflamed, if you do not stop the pulling of the hair you will see that the hair will no longer grow back at all!
Tell Tell Symptoms
In order to establish if you may have this problem is to know when your hair is either pulled into a hairstyle to tightly, i.e a ponytail, when the hair band is taken out how does your scalp feel? Does it feel sensitive? Relived? When you wearing braids or a weave, do you find that your hair itch? Does if feel tight? Uncomfortable? Do you feel that you get constant headaches because of the tightness from wearing these styles? Do you notice pustules or blisters filled with pus on the hairline or scalp?
Sometimes it is good to be in tuned with our body, and listen to it when it is telling us when something is wrong. Ten times out of 10 is is usually right, take note and act now! If you do experience any of the above, you could be in problems of getting traction alopecia if you act now to resolve the issue you will prevent the problem from getting worse.
Cure
Traction alopecia if caught early enough, can be restored, but you have to change the way in which your hair is styled, maintained and giving your hair the undivided attention and care that in needs. Do be mindful that cures do not happen straight away, but takes time and patience to notice a real difference in the growth of that affected area.
If it is the case that you have left this matter to get to the stage of your hair follicles being traumatised over a long period of time and that the hair has scarred over, then you will find that the hair will not grow back by itself. In this case, you may need to consider seeking medical advice as to whether they can offer some sort of surgical restoration. Seek advice to see if your hair has not become permanently scarred, and also this would be the best opportunity to see what options are available.
Prevention
If you want to restore your hair back while you have managed to catch the problem early, then follow these simple steps.
- If you want to have your hair in a puff style, do consider using a stretchy band that you can use to tie around your hand once, you want it to be positioned so that it does not feel tight at all.
- Do braid your hair loosely
- Do change the location of your ponytail very often if this is a style that you like to do
- Consider using a fabric covered hair bands instead of rubber bands
- Always cover your hair with a satin scarf or pillowcase to cause less friction on your hair
- Choose a satin wig cap rather than a nylon or cotton one
- It is considered if wearing dreadlocks, not to retwist the roots
- When removing extensions of weaves, allow your hair to recover before re-applying them again
- MAKE SURE YOUR HAIR IS HYDRATED
- Scalp massage is something to consider to help regrowth
Products you can use when scalp massaging are:
- Jamaican Black Castor Oil
- Castor Oil
- Olive Oil
- Coconut Oil
- Shea Moisture Thickening Growth Milk
I hope this helped and has encouraged you to think twice before putting your hair under pressure! Do you suffer from Traction Alopecia? What stage is the damage? What do you do to overcome this problem?
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Will I be affected by traction alopecia by wearing my hair in a ponytail?
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