Ahhhh… the small pleasures in life. How gratifying it would be to part my hair. Instead my hair parts itself (in round circles rather than straight lines) at both regular and irregular intervals. It’s called Alopecia Areata. What are my options?
I’ve tried most of them - wigs of every type, scalp injections, nutritional supplements, and beautiful headscarves of every style. One option that I haven’t experimented with but that is fast growing in popularity among ALL women is hair extensions. They might be more common among black women, but weaves and extensions are quickly growing in popularity among white women as well, especially those of us with hair loss. So the newest headlines reading, “Weaves and braids may contribute to a type of permanent hair loss…” may have relevance beyond the group of black women the researchers looked at. Last thing we ladies with hair loss need is an option that makes our matters worse.
Interestingly, they did find some evidence that women with central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA) tended to have balding maternal grandfathers and higher rates of type 2 diabetes as well, so it’s unclear whether these are significant associations. All I know, is I’m not taking any chances with hair loss solutions that lengthen the already exponential distance between me and the Pantene lady.
Have you ever used hair extensions? Are you worried they’ll contribute to hair loss?
Susan Beausang, President, 4Women.com