Hair loss is one of the biggest modern day problem. It is affecting both men and women. There are too many reasons for losing strands…. pollution, genetics, age along with others. This problem is quite common in girls and because tying hair can for long time makes hair root weak. You have seen many treatments for halting hair loss but surely, you have heard prevention is better than cure. So, we will discuss today how ties hair can lead to hair loss and how can you prevent this problem.
Hair ties damages hair
If the material you are using to tie is unkind to hair then you may come to face problem like hair loss. Some kind of hair bands are hard to stretch and when you tie hair with them the hair feels tightly stretched and sometimes can start a head ache.
When any band worn is frequently and tied tightly, it can snap strands of hair causing which is called hair breakage. However, this is not an organic hair loss condition because it does not affect the follicles of hair but it can lead to your hair looking thin and frizzy as well. The biggest problem it leads to is split ends.
How many times have you noticed hair on your hair band whenever you un-tie your hair, so many times right? We girls mostly prefer ponytails, buns or bunches rather than plaits because they are not only easy to make but also fashionable. Whenever, we tie or make tight ponytails, buns or bunches, our follicles get pulled very hard.
Traction Alopecia
This leads to a condition called Traction Alopecia. It is very common among people who tend to tie ponytails very often because it happens by repeatedly pulling on your hair and especially if you use chemicals or heat to style them.
Do you know, the condition because of traction alopecia can be permanent if you don’t stop pulling your hair back. According to a research, women who wore tight ponytails had lost hair along their hairline.
Causes
If we come to major causes then tying your hair too tight develops traction alopecia, as mentioned above. Pulling your hair in any way like tight ponytail, wearing tight braids, cornrows or dreadlocks, putting your hair up in rollers overnight etc. This can also happen to men in their beards and hair. This problem is especially common with long hair. African and American women used to tie plaits but by pulling their hair so hard. If you are used to tie buns for entire day or for most of the time then please try to stop it, if you don’t have traction alopecia now, you might develop it in near future.
Although, the problem is quite common among old people due to aging, the hair follicles become weak and your hair starts breaking by a little stretching.
Symptoms
On early stages of traction alopecia, you may find small kind of bumps on your scalp which simple looks like a pimple. As time will pass, you may not be able to find these bumps but your hair will be start breaking. Which part gets most affected?
So the hair along the front and sides of your scalp are most often affected. But you will also find hair loss on other areas of your scalp, it may depends on which hair style you prefer often. There are some major symptoms with the help which you can easily identify Traction Alopecia.
- Redness of the scalp
- Bumps
- Soreness / Stinging of your scalp
- Itching
- Scaling
- Inflammation of the hair follicles( also known as Folliculitis)
- Pus-filled blisters on the scalp
Because of this problem, the hair follicles become damaged and are not able to produce new hair.
Prevention for Traction Alopecia
As we always say, prevention is better than cure, today we will also suggest you the same. The main prevention for traction alopecia is to tie your hair down and lose. This will not lead your hair follicles to be pulled and will not weaken your hair. So, what can you do to prevent this condition:
- Don’t continue a single hairstyle for long time. Change your hair style in small gaps of time, may be within every couple of weeks.
- Wear comfortable hairstyles, sometimes we continue with a hairstyle in order to look more attractive but we suggest you, if you are not comfortable, if you experience itching and stretching in your scalp then you should change your hairstyle.
- Avoid using heating tools for very often. No doubt these equipments make your hair look good. But they also lead to too many problems for hair like split ends, dry hair, hair fall and others. Whenever you use any heat equipment keep the heat setting low and use a heat protectant.
- If you use weaves or braids then avoid chemically processing your hair. These chemicals can damage your hair and making it more likely to break.
- Avoid wearing wig if you have enough hair. If you wear a wig, choose one with a satin wig cap. It won’t pull hard on the scalp.
- Use to wear weaves or extensions for short period of time and don’t forget to maintain a break between each use of them.
Treatment
We have suggested some preventions, use to follow them so that you don’t need to go for treatment. If you are facing traction alopecia visit a trichologist. There are some treatments available for this problem:-
- Antibiotics to prevent infection in any open sores
- Antifungal shampoo
- Topical steroids to bring down swelling on your scalp
- Biotin supplements to strengthen your hair
- Minoxidii ( Rogaine) to re-grow hair
If you have very long then avoid wearing your hair in tight style. Minimize the use of chemicals and heating tools. Hopefully, this information related to hair loss due to hair tie will be helpful.
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(Reviewed by Dr. Samiksha Rane)
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