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Black women's hair loss tied to braiding, weaving
NEW YORK — Very tight braiding or weaving is linked to a permanent type of hair loss that affects many African American women, new research suggests.
While the findings can't prove hair grooming is at the root of the problem, women might still want to take them into consideration, said Dr. Angela Kyei, who worked on the study.
"I won't tell you not to braid your hair, but I don't want you to braid it so tightly that you need to take pain medication," said Kyei, of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.
Prolonged pulling at the hair strands may cause inflammation of the hair follicle, which has been shown to lead to scarring. In principle, that could lead to a type of balding that dermatologists call central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia, or scarring hair loss.
This type of balding starts at the top of the scalp and slowly spreads to the rest. It occurs only in black women. Because there is no treatment for it, Kyei decided to try to find out what is causing it instead.
Observations from the 1960s had hinted it was related to hot-comb straightening, but little research has looked at other explanations.
Balding also linked to bacterial scalp infections
Reseachers found that women with scarring hair loss were also more likely to have type 2 diabetes, to braid or weave their hair tightly, and to have bacterial scalp infections.
The new study, published in the Archives of Dermatology, is based on health questionnaires and scalp examinations of 326 African American women.
Nearly all of them straightened their curls chemically and about one in six had scarring hair loss. More than half the women with this condition said they had braids, weaves or hair extensions, as compared to only a third of those with less severe hair loss.
"This is just telling us there is a trend and we need to study it further," said Kyei, adding that it doesn't mean these hair styles are necessarily tied to balding, which could have other causes.
"If there is any take-home message from this study, it is that hair grooming is not the only thing you should look at in these patients," Kyei noted. "If you have hair loss — specifically if you have the central type of hair loss, which is permanent — you need to seek medical attention."
Procter and Gamble donated shampoo samples for the study, which were given to the women as a reward for participating.
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters
While the findings can't prove hair grooming is at the root of the problem, women might still want to take them into consideration, said Dr. Angela Kyei, who worked on the study.
"I won't tell you not to braid your hair, but I don't want you to braid it so tightly that you need to take pain medication," said Kyei, of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.
Prolonged pulling at the hair strands may cause inflammation of the hair follicle, which has been shown to lead to scarring. In principle, that could lead to a type of balding that dermatologists call central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia, or scarring hair loss.
This type of balding starts at the top of the scalp and slowly spreads to the rest. It occurs only in black women. Because there is no treatment for it, Kyei decided to try to find out what is causing it instead.
Observations from the 1960s had hinted it was related to hot-comb straightening, but little research has looked at other explanations.
Balding also linked to bacterial scalp infections
Reseachers found that women with scarring hair loss were also more likely to have type 2 diabetes, to braid or weave their hair tightly, and to have bacterial scalp infections.
The new study, published in the Archives of Dermatology, is based on health questionnaires and scalp examinations of 326 African American women.
Nearly all of them straightened their curls chemically and about one in six had scarring hair loss. More than half the women with this condition said they had braids, weaves or hair extensions, as compared to only a third of those with less severe hair loss.
"This is just telling us there is a trend and we need to study it further," said Kyei, adding that it doesn't mean these hair styles are necessarily tied to balding, which could have other causes.
"If there is any take-home message from this study, it is that hair grooming is not the only thing you should look at in these patients," Kyei noted. "If you have hair loss — specifically if you have the central type of hair loss, which is permanent — you need to seek medical attention."
Procter and Gamble donated shampoo samples for the study, which were given to the women as a reward for participating.
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters
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Comment by Angie P on April 12, 2011 at 10:33pm
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Black women on the continent have been braiding their hair since "braiding began" { for lack of a better term--smile }. I wonder what is different with us? Environment, diet, stress, chemicals???
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Comment by Linda Rieschel on April 13, 2011 at 11:58pm
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I worked in hair replacement for several years. Every now and again, I consulted with women who had a condition called 'traction alopecia'. This type of (sometimes permanent) hair loss was directly related to the hair extensions they had attached to their tightly braided hair. Hair extensions were never intended for long term use. They were for models who would wear them on the runway or for a photo shoot, and then have them removed. It is very hard on anyone's hair to have such tightly attached extensions constantly pulling on their growth hair as they sleep, shower and shampoo, etc. If you are wearing extensions, you might want to rethink it. Just a word of caution from the headwrapguru.
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