Hair Essentials - Have Thinning Hair?

Do you think you have thinning hair? Read more.

This issue recently came up with a couple of my friends and a prospective client told me about her hair thinning. I know that some people who wear wigs and braids, tend to either lose hair from the pulling of tight braids which leads to thinning in the front and/or the lack of being exposed to the elements does not allow hair to grow in a healthy manner thus leading to thinning hair. However, thinning hair can be caused by diet, genetics or aging. Genetics and aging is natural. Our bodies always undergo change as we age and our genes do play a role in whether men go bald at an earlier age than expected or women who begin having thinner hair at the crown. BUT, thinning can also be caused by chemical relaxers, air drying hair, from combing and styling, and even insufficient techniques of moisturizing the hair.

We have already spoken about how to moisturize hair and to seal in moisture, so I will not focus on that in this post. Let’s talk about thinning being caused by chemical relaxers, air drying and also combing/styling hair.

1. Chemical Relaxers – when relaxing the new growth, the hair on the ends are exposed to being “relaxed” again. This is why it’s important to coat the ends of the hair that has already been previously relaxed so that during the relaxing and rinsing portion of the process, the ends of the hair doesn’t undergo the chemical treatment. This leads to the reddening of the ends of the hair and/or the thinning of hair.
2. Air Drying – often times as naturalistas, we like to air dry our hair, but what happens is that this dries the end of our hair out first, damaging the cuticles…even if air is air dried during the bitter cold winters. Exposing our hair to this and not wearing protective styles to secure ends leads to the damaging of the cuticles. Also, with air drying or simply wearing hair out, the ends of our hair get caught on fabrics like cotton and wool, which are natural absorbers and they absorb the moisture of our hair and our hair catches on these garments and fabrics. This then leads to breakage after much damage has occurred to the cuticles. So, moisturizing and securing hair with an essential oil sealant then tucking hair away will lead to finding less/no hair on the backs and necks of our clothing.
3. Combing/Styling – as mentioned above, it is best to style hair in protective styles. See other posts for protective styles. Currently I’m wearing my hair in twists that I have styled by pinning up off the back and neck. I’ll take a pic and update this post later today. Also, when combing out hair, we should use a wide tooth comb that is seamless and also secure section of hair within 3-4 inches above the portion of hair we are detangling, starting from the tip to the root and then working our way back down using our hands to secure hair and reduce friction when combing. Yes, this is very time consuming, but being naturally beautiful takes a little work and goes a MUCH longer way.

VERY IMPORTANT

One more thing before I leave. The use or scalp massages help in treating the cuticles of hair and coaxes hair to grow. I remember I had tights Senegalese twist done in my hair from the African braid shop, very beautifully done, but all my hair in the front disappeared. I rubbed Vitamin E oil on it and massaged it every day…I finger combed the front of my hair and didn’t brush the front for a few weeks after the braids were out because I didn’t want to subject the hair to harsh treatment that can be caused by brushing. It worked for me and I’m hoping it can work for you. Also, I have heard that vitamins can be taken to treat hair loss, but notice I said HEARD. If you have experienced hair growth in hair loss areas through the use of using vitamins, please respond so other readers can see what works.

ps. Here are the pics as promised!

That is all for now. I will update post with pic of current protective styling. Otherwise, live on purpose. MuAh & CiAo!