Stressed hair is likely to fall out.
Naomi Campbell has been snapped again, and things don’t appear to be getting better where her baldness is concerned.
By the way Namomi is not alone, many women (and some men) fall into this trap.
A wig or weave is like make up, it’s not for life. You need to know when to wear it and when to take it off.
Too often I see long heavy and long wigs and weaves in particularLo worn in the wrong places.
Wrong places to wear a long or heavy weave:
The Gym
The Sea
The Swimming Pool
At the Olympics
I’m sure you can think of more…
The thing about having anything that is attached to your own hair as with wigs weaves and even long dreadlocks (detached hair attached to hair in your scalp) is that it is likely to put stress on your scalp.
Think about it for a moment and lets take Naomi as an example. In these pictures you see that she is going into the sea with her weave or wig which looks like it has been sewn or glued on to the back half of her head or hair. Water has a lot of drag it’s heavy, and when she dips her head in and out of the water she is having the full weight of the wet hair pulling on her own hair. This effect can be replicate when running, jogging, jumping up and down.
A man who has dreadlocks
As I said it’s not just women. At my gym there is a man who has dreadlocks down to his bottom. We do a circuit training class so we are constantly bobbing up and down, running and all manner of exercises, and his hair is doing the same, pulling and straining at his scalp. He already has many bald patches and I’m sure he is in the process of making many more.
No, I’m not suggesting he stops exercising. Neither am I suggesting he cuts his locs. What I think he should do is put his hair in a tight fitting stocking. But first he needs to wrap the hair around his head maybe under a sweatband, he needs to stop the weight of all of his hair pulling at his roots/scalp.
Naomi’s medical records
Don’t know about you but I’m not privy to Naomi Campbell‘s medical records. She may not have Traction Alopecia, she may be suffering from Alopecia for a whole host of reasons.
I would imagine most of us have never seen Naomi without a wig/weave, one would get the impression she wears it full time. Therefore having no hair underneath may not be an issue for her. In fact it probably helps her wig to lie flatter at the front therefore helping it to look more realistic.
But the problem is she now no longer has a choice. She would now probably not be happy without wearing her wig or weave.
The moral of this article is less is more… Wear your wigs (if attached to your head), and weaves sparingly, if you want to help keep your hair on your head.
* Traction Alopecia is hair loss caused by excessive amounts of tension on the hair shafts. This causes the hair to be pulled and can damage the follicle. Over long periods of time under these circumstances, Traction Alopecia will cause the production of hair to slow down and finally cease. It often occurs in persons who wears tight braids, especially “cornrows” that lead to high tension, pulling and breakage of hair.
Oh my goodness, i can’t watch. Maybe that’s the source of her anger problems.
You’re right Onysha it could be stress related. But I challenge you to look around tomorrow when you are out and about. You’ll notice there are a large number of black women with some degree of Traction Alopecia or stress or health related hair loss.
As you know Valley, I recently conducted research on this whole hair thing. My dissertation will be published for all to see my findings. I came across research that suggests all these hair styles, application of heat etc, are ruining black women’s hair shafts causing hair loss and breakage. When will people wake up? Naomi’s hair looks ridiculous now but she wont give it up, and for what?
Hi Yvonne – I look forward to reading your findings. It’s starting to look like we are suppose to just gently brush our hair and not pull it into any particular direction. Unfortunately as with most practices that have great initial results, it’s hard to stop, even when the results are not as good, and are now
causing damage. Look what we do to our feet in high heels, our finger nails with false nails, our skin with makeup and so on.
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I have aloepicia areata. I have no edges currently because I had to stop my steroid shots due to pregnancy. In some cases, danger is so severe, not even shots or topical ointments will bring the hair back. In my case a combination of an autoimmune disorder and the over use of too tight weaves/ braids caused my hair to fall out. It’s a vicious cycle when you suffer from this– you want to cover the patches with wigs and weaves, but that makes the condition worse. I wear silk scarves to cover those areas and my hair is long enough in some places to cover them. I know that shots work for me and my hair grows back, but in Naomi’s case, her hair may never come back– the hair shafts in her scalp may be permanently damaged. It’s sad
Hi Madamesiames, thanks so much for sharing. Aloepicia of one kind or another is increasingly common nowadays. Glad you are finding solutions. I agree with you Naomi’s hair may well be permanently damaged. Somehow I wonder if those pictures were by accident. She knows there is always a camera somewhere near her. I think good for her for feeling no way. Her hair right now is what it is and no doubt she is dealing with it the best way she can. As we can see money can’t buy you everything!
I have dreadlocks which I’ve had for about 7 or 8 years now. A few months ago, I used a product to help take the locks out and because I was able to really get the roots soaked with the product, my new roots are not locking and there is less stress on my hair – but I’m tired of putting it up in the heat and will decide whether or not to cut it if I can’t take out the locks this winter.
Thanks for an informative article.
Good to hear from you Harolynne. Interesting I have heard of someone undoing locs before although I think this is rare. It’s a big decision. Before I decided to go natural I too contemplated locs, but like you I thought what do I do if I want to take them out. Would love to know how you do and what you decide. Thanks for reading and feedback.