If you’d told me a decade ago that I would end up losing around an inch of hair along the front of my hairline and getting hair transplant surgery I would not have believed you. But despite years of hair health treatments like light therapy, platelet rich plasma injections, microneedling and more, I noticed year on year that my hairline kept slowly receding. The tension caused by using hair straighteners on my 3c curly hair, wearing tight buns (when I needed a quick solution to tame my bedhead), and regularly plaiting my hair overnight, became too much for my strands and I developed alopecia.
Traction alopecia to be exact. It’s a form of alopecia caused by repetitive tension, and “it presents as thinning or complete loss of hair generally on the hairline and temples (edges), but can affect anywhere on the scalp, where pulling occurs,” shares consultant dermatologist doctor, Sharon Belmo. And while it’s a reversible condition, if you catch it early and are prepared to change your styling habits, “it can’t be reversed after long term tension, as this leads to the permanent ‘death’ of follicles and hair is no longer able to grow back,” adds Belmo.
