April 5 2006, 10:31 am PT | Posted in: Female Hair Loss
I have a dear friend, young, beautiful girl (caucasian) who has come to believe that her really long dreadlocks - which she has been growing for 7 years…is causing perhaps permanent bald spots on her scalp. She is really beside herself about it, and wondered what she could do to be sure, and if so - to cure the problem.
Dreadlocks can produce traction alopecia (hair loss from constant pulling). The best thing for her to do is to get rid of them and then wait for recovery of the hair. After 7 years, the hair loss may be permanent, but until the pulling stops, you will not know one way or the other. Recovery from traction alopecia may take up to a year.
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I have the same problem, I’m also a white female and I’ve been growing my locks for 11 years now. It really kills me to have to cut them but I’ve come to realize that it must be done. They become such a part of you and even your personality, I’m really devastated that I have to cut them. We should start a support group!
I am having a problem with thinning hair in the front of my scalp at the hair line. I am a white female. I have been growing dreadlocks for over 6 years. I am truly sad at the thought of cutting them off because they have become a major part of my life and personality. Also, my husband, a black male, has been growing his dreads for 20 years without a problem, and we are both Rastafarians. I would hate to have to separate from the unified style that the both of us have. We also have a Rasta crafts busniss together and our dreads are a major part of our professional image. We should start a support group to help us cope with such a tough decision.
8 years, pass the booty point, of growth, I’m a black woman.
I am a entertainer, I travel everywhere, image is everything.
This is devastating to have plugs of small balding spots in your head and it is starting to be noticed. I have always been a highly active person and very intense person so i thought it was my nerves causing it. Now, Looking at it daily is driving the rest of it out ,because I’m so sad and worried about it. So,I decided to stop twisting altogether,try that for a while before I CUT. I haven’t lost a lock yet but it don’t mean I wont. Lady dredlocks of all sizes and colors neat and pretty twist up style! Well we might have to go real nappy, for real! if we want to save our hair. Instead of twisting after every wash let dry,moisten scalp,find a hair do 4U and roll out.Before I cut, I got to try to save my locks first. lets start a movement and start with INDIA A.
Got to be a better way than a cut. Stop twisting . Get creative to save it.
I am a white female and have had dreads for almost 7 years. I never actually twisted my hair, I just stopped brushing it and it started to lock up. My hair has just grown into the lock ever since. I noticed thinning a couple years ago, but have been in serious denial. A year ago I cut quite a bit of length off. I thought that it would help to get some of the weight off, but I think I have still gotten even thinner. I am frozen with fear to cut them off to reveal bald patches. It’s been easy to hide any thinning by styling the locks with specific placement on top of my head or with scarves. I am in the design field and people know me for my style/look. I am so afraid to take this step. I know that when my hair is short, a lot of bald/thinning patches are going to be very noticeable. I have been searching the internet to find other women’s experience with cutting off their dreads and how they dealt with recovering and whether they found a hair style that helped hide the hair loss. Has anyone found anything?
I am also a white female with dreadlocks and I have been growing them for almost 6 years now, I’m starting to worry about my hair gettting really thin and thinking about cutting them. I’m very worried that I wont have any hair left if i cut them , but if i leave them i most likely will have permanent hair loss. It is very upsetting to me but they also are hurting my neck on an every day basis.
It kills me to think about regretting it after i do it because it has become part of my lifestyle.
I have locks as well….but i have a male friend (african-american) who had locks for maybe 6 or so years and he developed a bald spot in the middle of his scalp. He has since cut his locks and the bald spot has since resolved.
Hi
Im also white, caucasian women– im 22 and i’ve been growing locks for something like 6 years now. Im also bearing with hair loss… some of my locks became so thin i had to cut them before they just fell out.. I try to style hair in ways which may prevent pulling, but… f***, man. i cant ever imagine myself in other hairstyle, for now ill try to eat some vitamins and stuff but i dont even know if it may help :((
after reading the comments, its reassuring to know that it seems like something that happens to lots of people who have had dreads for a long time. i too have for like a year and a half have noticed a couple of thinning spots that i feel are dread related, and i have sort of been in denial about it because i am afraid to cut my hair - im afraid i will be depressed after i cut my hair, but i think when i get home from this trip, im going to face the music and cut them. i wanted to wait till 2012, but its just getting out of hand, i don’t think i can wait another year and a half without losing some of my sanity.
I’m white caucasian male, 24 years old. I’ve had dreads over 7 years now. And have started to get thinning hair around the crown of my head, also the condition of my scalp has deterioated. I cut my dreads and they’re half the length but I think regardless the strain on the scalp is what’s causing this. I really do not suit short hair and as such I’m going to spend the next few months growing them out instead of having to go for a severe hair cut to be rid of them.
It is a shame to see them go but in all honesty i’d rather have hair than allow my hair to get more and more damaged and beyond the point of no return. I hope my hair and scalp heals, I think although getting rid of the dreads will be a shock to the system, knowing it should help heal my scalp will be a relief from the worry (and my self-denial) at the end of the day.
As with everyone here, dreads are part of an image and look and in such an image obsessed world it’s a daunting prospect loosing something you treasure and something we believe defines us (the need for ideosyncracy), but life goes on and when things seem horrid they can only get better. There’s more to people than their image
Ed
I have the same issue and I’m devastated. I’m trying to recall when this occured. I never noticed my hair thinning until I viewed it in a two way mirror. All the locks on the crown of my hair have a bald spot in the center. I shaved the back and the sides off and they look cute. But I’m afraid that if I cut the top off that the balding would be more noticeable. I don’t know what to do.
I had dreads for 10 years. I cut them 6 months ago and my hair is thin. I had thin hair to begin with but it’s really thin now. My hair stylist (who had dreads at one point and cut his) told me that it was normal but for most women their hair will grow back in a few months. Men don’t tend to be so lucky. (His has never grown back.) It’s been 6 months now and I’m not seeing a difference in my hair. I have read that it can take up to a year for your hair to grow back like it should after having dreads. I hope that’s true. In the mean time, I’m looking for a hair style/cut that will minimize the appearance of my thin hair and for any products or methods to stimulate the hair pores in to wanting to grow my hair.
Good luck everyone!!!