A Study: Black Women's Hair Loss Tied to Weaving & Braiding

This was shared with me, thought I would share with you guys:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/12/us-hair-women-idUSTRE73B0T920110412

Weigh in!

i dunno, i kinda thought that was common sense. u dont need a study to prove that excessive pulling of the hair caused some form of baldness ya know

I agree. That image of Naomi Campbell's balding temples comes to mind. And that's why several years ago I lost my temples from extra tight micros and pulling them back in a tight pony tail. I still braid my hair but now I no longer pull it back into tight ponytails. I usually wear it parted down the middle. My edges are a lot better.

Can they add the whole issue with hair loss from the glue on lace front wigs and those combs attached to some of the other wigs that people dig into their temples?

I wish they would write an article about black women's hair growth and the amazing healthy hair movement.

@whitedaisez

You would be surprised how many women this information is foreign to. I have a friend who is bald on one side of her head. Ask her why and she has no clue, but she RIPS out and slaps in a new weave every 3 weeks weeks like clock work.

This bit of knowledge may be common to us, but may not be to a lurker or other new comer.

I should share this with my bald headed friends

Yea it seems a lot of women swear up and down braids grow their hair, yea they see new growth but never think to why their hair isn't gaining length or think it being dry and uneven is normal so it makes sense that this would be foreign information to them.

Solitude said:

I wish they would write an article about black women's hair growth and the amazing healthy hair movement.

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My thoughts exactly!

Next up on Reuters: Is water wet?

Seriously though, I don't understand why there was even a study (or this article). Perhaps its not so obvious to others as it is to me and you all.

Sometimes I see women who are *STILL* braiding and weaving, and you can tell that there hairline has receeded literally three to five inches because of traction alopecia and poor or lack of maintenance. It's very saddening. At the same time, can we please have some positive articles that will influence women suffering from these issues? Offer more solutions, don't just note problems.

This is just common sense. If you have to pop 5 Advils just to stop the pain from your tight braids, erh, Houston we have a problem.

Solitude said:

I wish they would write an article about black women's hair growth and the amazing healthy hair movement.

Click to expand...

more of us need to get into research where knowledge is produced, so we can have that voice

Balding crowns and temples seem to be apart of AA hair culture. I don't think anyone looks twice anymore (Unless you are on hair boards). I think AA women think what happened to Naomi is a side effect of having weaves and it was worth it as long as you looked fabulous. I see AA women all the time who have hairlines that start at their ears and they are not trying to hide it at all.

This paragraph is interesting WRT the importance of health and hygiene. Of course, we know the role they play, but how many posts are there about non-LHCF members who wash their hair once every 2 months, once a year, etc.?

...there could be other causes for the balding. The researchers found that women with type 2 diabetes were more likely to have scarring hair loss, as were those with bacterial scalp infections.

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I think people realize that the weaves and braids are damaging but they feel like they don't have any other choice and they think they look cute.....

Then over time, when their is nothing left to sew or braid to, they break out the wigs.

There are some black women that believe that a receding hairline is just a part of black hair care. If that's all you see then that must be the way things have to be. And they make themselves feel better by saying that the few black women that can grow their own hair long, must have that good hair.

My edges are thin and I don't think they became that way because of braiding. I never braided my hair before and it was still thin. Now that I've been wearing braids for the past year some parts of my edges grew back in but overall it is still thin. Personally I think its genetics. Nothing more. IMO if you see you have the propensity for thinning hair in the back/front they you should stop braiding or weaving and consider going natural. I recently saw a picture on Mediatake out of a woman's hair that's gone south in the back and she was still adding extensions. If your hair is like that then I suggest you stop braiding and go natural.

They needed to do a study to figure this out???

Oh brother!

shunemite said:

I agree. That image of Naomi Campbell's balding temples comes to mind. And that's why several years ago I lost my temples from extra tight micros and pulling them back in a tight pony tail. I still braid my hair but now I no longer pull it back into tight ponytails. I usually wear it parted down the middle. My edges are a lot better.

Can they add the whole issue with hair loss from the glue on lace front wigs and those combs attached to some of the other wigs that people dig into their temples?

Click to expand...

i cut out the combs!!!

This article must have been written by captain obvious.

I'm definitely not trying to knock black women but outside of the hair boards I rarely meet bw who care about actual hair care. They're usually more concerned with how their hair looks.

I had a weave installed in my head in 08 and it was so tight I cried all night and took it out that morning. $200 down the drain and my head was still sore for a week. When I told my weavalicious friend what happened she looked at me like I was crazy. She was like beauty is pain .

When people ask me how I get my hair so soft and healthy and I tell them about my products and techniques they tell me I'm doing too much. And if I mention the hair boards they tell me I'm obsessed.

Then with the myths and notions out there that weaves and braids actually grow your hair its damn near impossible to convince a bw that they are actually damaging their hair. Only on the hair boards do I even see women who wash and condition their hair while in weaves and braids.

I think its a shame when a woman doesn't feel like she's beautiful without her weave or extensions. Sadly I'm starting to see more little girls (as young as 2) getting extensions . I guess the cycle continues.

Sometimes the purpose of research is not always to find out something new, per say, but to just establish a body of evidence. So I think this study is very appropriate. As well as establishing a possible cause of balding, the researchers have also gained an insight into the amounts of balding that could be attributed to careless grooming in the population. Following that, they have pointed to other possible causes of not only hairloss in general, but specific types of hairloss.

Jumping to the conclusion that this whole study is completely useless/unnecessary/obvious is a failure to read the article past the TITLE!

To those who want research on growth ... that's all good and well, but it' also important to establish possible causes of hair loss in the first place, no?