What is Traction Alopecia
Traction alopecia is hair loss caused by repeatedly pulling on your hair. Traction alopecia might appear as little bumps on your scalp that look like pimples. As the condition progresses, you start missing hair. The hair along the front and sides of your scalp are most often affected, but you may also notice hair loss in other areas of your scalp, depending on your hairstyle. Eventually, the hair follicles can become so damaged and scarred that they can’t produce new hair.
How do you develop Traction Alopecia (Locs)
You can develop this condition if you often wear your locs in a tight ponytail, bun, twist, and if you repeat the same style constantly. Persons with very long locs can also develop traction alopecia due to the weight of the locs pulling on the scalp. Another common cause of traction alopecia (locs) is interlocking locs. Many people don't know the technique used to interlock locs and proceed to interlock their locs themselves or someone who doesn't know about this technique. Interlocking locs the wrong way or too much can cause serious hair loss.
How to prevent traction alopecia (Locs)?
Wear more protective styles.
Change hairstyles often (don't use the same hairstyle repeatedly)
Keep locs at a healthy length.
Avoid tight and frequent retwisting.
Only interlock when necessary
What can I do to Reverse Traction Alopecia (Locs)?
Traction alopecia can be reversed in most cases, but only if your hair follicles have not yet been permanently damaged.
Reversing traction alopecia takes time and commitment. You can't start treating this type of hair loss and stop when you see your hair starts growing. It is something you have to be persistent and dedicated to if you want to see permanent results.
I recommend virgin hair fertilizer, Jamaican castor oil, and vitamin E to my clients with hair loss issues. I also recommend that they do less retwist and styles and focus on the problem at hand.
N.B. Before trying these products, please note that everyone's hair type is not the same, so what might work for one might not work for the other.
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