Understanding How To Protect Your Hairline While Weaving
Let’s please talk about these edges! What are edges? We in the African American community refer to our hairline as “edges”. It is a little known fact that African American women suffer from hair loss at a greater rate than other women. Be aware some hair loss is genetic and can’t be avoided and requires medical attention. There are other forms of hair loss that are common among African American women, one in particular is traction alopecia. Traction alopecia is avoidable with proper hair care. Though, weaving and hair extensions contribute to this type of hair loss, weaving and wearing hair extensions is possible all while avoiding significant damage to your hairline. Read below for ways you can avoid these types of setbacks in your journey to ward healthy hair while wearing weaves and hair extensions.
Hair loss is more common than you think. Dealing with this can be a blow to your self-esteem. Often times we do not seek help when hair loss shows it’s ugly head. This may result in hairstyles to conceal the loss, this may even further damage the hair follicle if not applied properly and professionally. Changing habits and being aware of your hair health can reduce these factors; genes may cause hair loss and that can’t be avoided. But over extended wear and use of tightly installed weaves and hair extensions will result in hairline loss. Tight braids, chemical relaxing, excessive heat, and improper hair extension installation directly contributes to those thin edges!
Don’t say no to weaving and hair extensions just yet, you can enjoy the versatility of utilizing hair extensions all while maintaining your hair health and even making it stronger while weaving. In order to achieve weaving without losing your edges, there are a few things we strongly suggest you put in place right away. Be open with your hairstylist, tell them you do not want them to create looser styles that will not pull or thin your edges, for example, instruct them not to braid your hair tight, and request they decrease tension to your hair when installing weft extensions using needle and thread. We strongly recommend you remove your hair extensions and weaves every 6-8 weeks and do not re-install right away, give your hair at least a two week break. Do not chemically straighten or color your natural hair. If you must use chemical treatments to your hair, only allow a license professional dedicated to hair health provide chemical and color services. Be mindful that these treatments require a lot of maintenance to prevent hair from breaking and becoming brittle. Relax on the hot combs and flat irons. Too much heat thins the hair tremendously, consider the natural texture of your hair and the stress you put on it when you cook it and burn it daily.
Weave and hair extensions can contribute to protecting your hair and promoting growth, mismanagement and improper care can cause your hair irreparable damage. If it is out of your budget to maintain a certain hairstyle consider affordable options that may fit within your budget and lifestyle.