Traction Alopecia: Prevention and Treatment

Kenny English26 Jun, 2023Health

Hair loss due to grooming techniques – tight hair braiding and ponytails in particular – might be frustrating. A change of style is the best preventative. It’s called traction alopecia. It’s largely due to pulling the hair tightly, as in a ponytail or braiding, and thus affects women much more than men. But it plays no favorites with gender under certain circumstances: there are at least two examples of hair practices due to religious observances that can also lead to traction alopecia. One is with men of the Sikh religion, whose turbans conceal the uncut hair that characterizes their faith, which they sometimes pull tight with clips; the other is religions that forbid women from cutting their hair, in which case very long locks are heavy enough (with particularly thick hair) that gravity tugs on the hair roots.