Help for
Damaged Locs
Many of us are twisting
our hairlines out of existence. The longer your hair grows, the more
it weighs, the more stress it places on your hairline. Add excessive
twisting and tight ponytails to that mix and you will soon have a receding hairline. The
new trend seems to be to twist as tight as you can to hide any remnant of nappiness. Continue on this route and eventually, you won't have any nappiness as most of your
hair will have been pulled out. Less vain dreadlock wearers are less
likely to have this problem.
About Thinning and Hair Loss
The reason
dreadlocked hair flourishes is because the hair is left alone
the majority of the time and hair that is usually shed remains twisted
into each loc. This is the same way braided hair always seemed to
grow
more. The reality is, everyone’s hair, of every race grows. But,
the hair growth can’t be noticed if we constantly pull the hair out and cause breakage
with extreme processes.
Hair
loss and thinning is natural and should be expected. The front
hairline is well known for being the first area to show signs of baldness. Some hair loss
patterns are hereditary or simply because of an inadequate
diet. However,
some hair
loss occurs when we handle the hair too much (excessive brushing, combing, permanents…and
now with dreadlocks, excessive twisting). Too much twisting (outside of the
starting stage) causes thinning at the root
section. A loc with a thin root section is going to break. You can
temporarily solve the problem by twisting another loc in with the thinning
one, but you’ll just have more hair relying on two thin root sections.
The
same way excessive twisting can cause thinning, not twisting or lubricating your locs at
all can cause similar damage. While it's good to have some
accumulation of new growth before twisting, leaving the new growth
unattended for months at a time causes thinning at times too.
Especially if you constantly pull the hair back tightly or cover the new
growth with a scarf to conceal it.
Wearing
the hair tightly banded and not removing them for several days can cause
thinning at the point of contact with the band (this is any type of band,
not just rubberbands). Hair shouldn't be left banded in the same spot
from more than two days. Ideally they should be taken out daily.
Finally, sometimes thinning occurs because the locs have grown so long that
the sheer weight of them puts stress on the root section. Wearers of
the
everlasting 'ponytail' falls into this category. Remember that
dreadlocks hold all the hair that would have normally been shed. They
are heavy (and even heavier when
wet). Constant ponytail wearers are placing this entire weight on
their front hairline. Those trying to vanquish nappy new growth add even more stress by
pulling or binding the hair down extra tightly. You can alleviate
this stress by wearing the hair up on top of the head most of the time and not pulling the hair
so tight.
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Help
For Thinning Hair
We
recommend a vitamin specific to hair and nails, not
twisting the hair and not wearing your locs pulled up or back too tightly,
at all, for a while.
It is good to loosely tie the weak sections in a nice dressy knot (try our
eBooks for knot ideas), leave it alone for a
week or two (refreshing the knot daily, of course) while allowing the new
growth to fuzz up underneath. Use the
to conceal, what some might deem, unsightly new growth. Theis smooth all around and won't cause rubbed out areas of hair when worn in
moderation. Overuse of any type of wrap can cause damage and rubbed
out areas.
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How
often you twist your locs is up to you, but beware...sometimes there are
negative consequences
from over twisting.
Remember, it takes TIME, PATIENCE AND DEDICATION to reach the point where
you'll have a natural, long, flowing mane of dreadlocks...several years
actually. All the more reason to start NOW!!
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to top)
