Should I Use Glued Hair Pieces or Weave to Hide Thinning Hair and Bald Patches?
There is no doubt about it, losing your hair is traumatic and can have a de-stabilising effect on your emotions. We live in a society which judges us on our appearance, so it is not unusual for how we style our hair to be given careful consideration. The presentation of our hair plays an important role in how we are perceived by others, so when hair thins or leaves our scalp temporarily or permanently, it can have a negative effect on our self-esteem and even invoke feelings of shame. Shame causes us to want to hide or disguise our thinning hair or baldness which is a natural response to hair loss. Unfortunately, some of the techniques used to camouflage hair loss/thinning can cause permanent hair loss. This blog will outline why using glued hair pieces or extensions to hide balding and thinning hair can cause a vicious cycle of more hair loss and thinning, and in the worst-case scenario, can lead to permanent hair loss.
Why Glue Should Not Be Put on Thinning Hair or Bald Patches
If you have seen the recent ‘YouTube’ videos featuring skilled hairdressers using innovative techniques, often involving glue and hair pieces to hide thinning hair or balding, the results are impressive, giving a ‘real look’ in appearance. However, behind the glamour of an artistically applied hair piece glued to the scalp, lay the risk of both increasing the spread of hair loss and/or thinning across the scalp, which can be permanent.
Applying bonding glue to a scalp, which is experiencing hair loss or hair thinning is not advisable because the glue can cause irretrievable damage to the scalp. Bonding glue can block the pathway through which your hair grows and cause substantial damage to your hair bulb. Once bonding glue penetrates the scalp, it creates a hostile environment for hair growth, because the glue enters the hair bulb and follicles making it impossible for hair to sprout, continuing its journey towards the scalp and beyond. Consequently, hair stops growing and the glue damaged hair bulb closes because it has become contaminated by the sticky substance, which the follicle is unable to dispose of.
Can Hair Extensions Turn a Bald Patch into a Bald Head?
Using hair extensions to cover thinning hair or bald patches on the scalp is a quick fix to a distressing problem but long term this could potentially result in the least desirable outcome, more or permanent hair loss. Wearing hair extensions can lead to a hair loss condition called Traction Alopecia. Hair extensions can cause Traction Alopecia because application of hair extensions involves pulling and tightening of your natural hair, which has a traumatic effect on the scalp, creating tension on the hair and scalp. In other words, the pressure applied to the hair and scalp, by hair extensions, causes a mechanical loosening of the hairs from the follicle and makes the affected area even more inflamed. Repetitive use of weave has the same effect and causes sustained tension of the hair and scalp, causing the hair follicle to loosen from the hair, which are then starved of its nutrients and becomes thin, resulting in the spread of hair loss, often manifested in the form of a receding hair line or general thinning. If you think you are suffering from Traction Alopecia, click here to learn more about this condition and how to prevent further hair loss and how to restore hair growth.
Other hair loss conditions, such as Central Centrifugal Cicatricial Alopecia, which is characterised by hair thinning at the crown have also been triggered by hair extensions and gluing hair pieces to the scalp. Click here to find out more about this condition and how to treat it.
Advice for Women Suffering from Hair Loss
If you are suffering from hair loss, quick fixes such as camouflaging hair loss or thinning through weaves, braids or glued on hair pieces will only aggravate the situation, making a bad situation worse, potentially turning a bald patch into a completely bald head :( To avoid permanent balding and making a bad situation worse, get treatment such as ProTress to treat your hair loss condition. Treatment such as ProTress Essential Scalp Therapy Energising Shampoo and Lotion does the following:
1) Cleanses and purifies the scalp from remnants of bonding glue and other scalp impurities/bacteria which can hinder hair growth and perpetuate hair loss.
2) Soothe the scalp, helping it to heal from the trauma it has experienced, thereby creating a healthy environment for hair to grow.
3) Revitalises and reactivates hair bulb and follicles, restoring hair growth, as demonstrated by the before and after pictures below. click here for more info.
Protective Wigs
Wearing a ‘protective wig’ which, does not involve glue for application is also advisable because they give your scalp and hair much needed rest and recuperation from the tugging and pulling caused by styling, allowing the scalp to heal, as well as disguising vulnerable, thinning areas. Click here for more information on protective wigs.
PROVEN RESULTS WITH PROTRESS
