I was a punk in the late 70s and regularly wore a mohawk. Now I’m bald. There may or may not be a causal relationship between these events.
this post was submitted on 25 Feb 2024
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I had a big tall mohawk in high school and have thick curly hair now.
As my mom always said, "It's just hair, if you damage it you can shave your head and it will grow back" .
Backcombing, teasing hair like that is damaging yes, but hair is dead, it's like the white part of fingernails. Unless you damage the actual root (like a bad burn to the scalp) it will always grow back.
There are hairstyles that can do damage to the follicles to the point they can't grow hair anymore. It's called traction alopecia, the thing that Will Smith's wife has.
What are the causes?
For what I understand, just general mechanical damage. Constantly pulling the hair damages the cells in the follicles, they don't heal properly and so can't produce hair anymore. Stuff like aggressive ponytails, pig tails, braids, extensions, wigs, tight hats, anything that pulls and pluck hair a lot over a very long time. Chemicals for dying hair make it worse. Waxing and plucking body hair does it too. Like, “Hair grows back” is fine and all when you are very young and healthy. But it is naive to think that years of abuse to any body part won't harm it. Hair is not a magical thing that spurts from the head, our body is making it.
Constantly pulling the hair damages the cells in the follicles, they don't heal properly and so can't produce hair anymore. Waxing and plucking body hair does it too.
Can you remind the hair on my toes that this is how they're supposed to respond after 30 years of relentless plucking?? 😭 Everywhere else on my body I zapped with lasers a decade ago, thank god no more unwanted body hair. except those damn toes
Feet are Neanderthal, they don't care about your Sapiens sensibilities.
PSA from a massage therapist to all clients: Body grooming matters! Take care of yourself, whenever you step out into the world, be clean and well-groomed from head to toe.
Are you especially bald in a strip along the center?
No, a round spot behind centre. I don’t think it’s related.
I went bald at 18 and never did anything crazy with my hair.
Hair products have nothing to do with it. It's all genetics.
When did you start noticing the fallout from that? Have you trier finasteride+minoxidil to remedy it?
Maybe fifteen years ago? I looked at them but don’t like the side effects. It’s not that important.
Purely anecdotally, from seeing what happens to other women's hair, scraping it hard back from the face into a bun or ponytail (aka "Croydon facelift") does lead to a receding hairline. Making your hair stand up doesn't pressure the hair follicle like that though, so I think you're good. I still have all my hair after decades of stand-up styling.
In ballet class we're required to wear a tight bun 😭
Ya i would never do that stuff
Not an expert, but I don't think so. Hair is delicate and if exposed to constant strain and stress may break and be less voluminous and healthy, but it's also sturdy enough that you should be able to style regularly with gels and sprays and stuff without irreparably damaging it in the process. It comes down to the individual's hair, of course, so your mileage may vary.
Sure it can. But you can always cut it off and start over.
Don't do it by sticking your finger in an electric socket.
Only when its in mohican form and you walk through a door. Tips can get bent