Traction Alopecia

Welcome back to another Locs Talk, where I talk about all thing Locs and Loose-Natural Hair. For this discussion I am going to talk about the topic of Traction Alopecia. Traction Alopecia is a type of hair loss that is caused by repeatedly pulling on your hair. It is also the only form of alopecia that is caused by negligence, and not caused by an underlying autoimmune disorder, it can be avoided.

As shown in the illustration, the constant pulling of the hair, especially styling the hair in the same style repeatedly over time, hair loss is the result. You can develop this condition if you often wear your hair in tight ponytails, buns, braids, wearing headwraps that snag and pull the hair, tight elastic headbands, wearing and removing lace front wigs and glue, tightly sewn weave; if you have Locs, twisting too often or too tightly, and styling too often will contribute to and cause Traction alopecia.

Once again, with this information, it is safe to say that traction alopecia is avoidable. Other contributing factors that can aid in development of traction alopecia, especially with Locs is heavy buildup in Locs that causes gravitational pull due to excessive weight. This can also occur with excess weight from braid extensions added to locs, which is why I am strongly against braids over locs.

How can you avoid traction alopecia? It is best to minimize styling the hair with tight styles such as tight slick back ponytails, buns, and braids. Minimize wearing lace front wigs that are glued to your hair and invest in glueless wigs. Wear protective styles; don't repeat back-to-back installations, take breaks in between installments. I often advise my clients to let their hair and scalp rest a minimum of a week between installments. Resting between reinstalments of protective styles, gives your hair time to restore tensile strength to the hair strands to help avoid breakage. It also gives the hair follicles time to heal from the follicle stress and inflammation caused by tension and pulling.

If you notice tiny bumps on the scalp after the installment of a tight hair style, it is important to uninstall the style to loosen the tension to your scalp and hair follicles. It is important to avoid using a hard bristle brush on the affected area until the scalp is fully healed. Aloe Vera gel works well to help soothe the pain caused by inflammation from the tension and pulling. If there is hair loss due to traction alopecia, the chances of regrowing hair are low, due to damage caused to the hair follicles. If permanent damage occurs, there is no chance of hair growing back in the damaged areas. In a future blog, there will be more discussion about treatment for hair loss caused by different forms of medical alopecia. This discussion is to talk about traction alopecia only. Traction alopecia is very common, especially in our community and this topic is very important to share.

Take care in caring for your crown. Embrace your Loose-Natural Hair (emphasis on loose). Keep it light and protect your crown. Thank you for joining me for another Locs Talk discussion.

Pammie