Hair Problems

A receding hair line looks occurs when the hair line starts to go backwards. The problem happens slowly over a period of time. Most people feel embarrassed about this type of hair loss because the hair is lost at the front of the scalp where it’s most visible to everyone.

Causes

Tight braiding and weaving are the main causes of a receding hairline, but also chemicals and thermal damage can contribute especially the hair has been over processed in this area. The hairline tends to be the weakest area of your hair because it’s exposed to whether conditions and is often combed more than any other part of your hair.

Treatment

A gentle approach needs to be adopted, ensuring that you manage your hair carefully when brushing, combing, and washing. I recommend leaving this area unweaved or braided until your hair grows back properly.

The Black hair clinic’s Growth Assist Shampoo will not only help to stimulate hair growth but will also help to ensure your hair grows back much thicker and stronger.

Tor a period of time to allow the hair to recover, however in some cases a person may be advised not to style the hair too tightly or if the hair loss has reached advanced stages they may be told to look at alternative methods of styling. Removal of the inflammation is essential in giving the hair the best possible chance of regrowing as well as stimulating treatments to encourage the hair to grow back.
Hair Breakage

Traction Alopecia is the most common form of hair loss experienced in African Caribbean Women. The condition is caused by tight braiding, cornrowing, tightening of dreadlocks, tying the hair too tightly (particularly in the same position every day) to name a few. Rough combing, brushing and itching are also causes of Traction Alopecia. Culturally tight styling of the hair has always been a part of African Caribbean hair styling often stretching the skin so much that the eyes are pulled upwards to create 'Chinese looking eyes'. The idea is that the style is kept in long enough so that the hair doesn’t need to be restyled (redone) so often, therefore making it cheaper and more cost effective in the long term. As the hair is often finer and fewer in the frontal areas of the scalp, and is often the starting position for beginning a cornrow, an enormous amount of pressure is placed on the hair follicle's in these areas. Over a period of time as the hairstyle is taken out and redone again, the hair line starts to recede giving the same appearance as 'Male pattern baldness'. Eventually the condition progresses and the skin of the scalp is more visible. The hair does not seem to grow as quickly as before and when it does it's much finer and more vulnerable. If proper advice isn’t quickly enough and the hair is still under traction, it leads to hair loss and permanent scarring. Traction Alopecia is more commonly found at the front of the scalp but can also be found anywhere else on the scalp where the hair has been pulled. For example when a person ties their hair too tightly you will often find the hair is much thinner around the margins of hair line extending over the ears and downwards towards the back of the neck.

The role of Inflammation

When any form of hair loss occurs, the focus is to grow the hair back as quickly as possible, this overshadows the root cause of the problem 'inflammation of the hair follicle'. By not looking more closely at the role of inflammation in this type of hair loss, we often end up buying and using many stimulating products which have little effect. Inflammation is commonly involved in this condition because of the amount of pulling (tension placed on the hair shaft). The human body is very clever and when it thinks that the body is under attack it tries to protect us using white blood cells. By constantly putting pressure on the hair shaft we suggest to the brain that there is a problem in the hair follicle encouraging an inflammatory response. During inflammation white blood cells release chemicals into the blood stream which help to fight of the attack, these chemicals can cause redness and swelling resulting in slow sluggish hair growth. Because the inflammation has not been removed the hair doesn’t grow back normally even when a person has decided to stop braiding or cornrowing their hair. I have come across people who have stopped braiding their hair for years and have had no hair growth and when I have treated the area of hair loss with anti inflammatory medication the the hair begins to grow back to their complete surprise.

Please note that Traction Alopecia is not a specific autoimmune disorder and that the inflammatory response is triggered by the continued pulling placed on the hair follicle.
Treatment

The most important treatment is advice, on preventative measures as sadly once the hair loss reaches a stage of scarring it is unable to grow back. Time should be taken to ensure that a person fully understands the reason why they lost their hair in the first place and how to prevent it from reoccurring. It’s usually recommended that the person refrains from cornrowing and braiding for a period of time to allow the hair to recover, however in some cases a person may be advised not to style the hair too tightly or if the hair loss has reached advanced stages they may be told to look at alternative methods of styling. Removal of the inflammation is essential in giving the hair the best possible chance of regrowing as well as stimulating treatments to encourage the hair to grow back.

What is it?

Hair breakage is a type of hair loss that occurs when the hair snaps and breaks off from an existing hair.
 
Causes

Hair breakage occurs if your hair is extremely dry, if too much heat has been used in styling. If your hair has been over processed. Leaving your hair too long before retouching, Rough combing and brushing are also causes of hair breakage. Nutrient deficiency’s such as low zinc levels has shown to cause hair breakage. The internal structure of black hair is very complex, being weak in some areas and thicker in others, causing the hair overall to be vulnerable particularly when it is brushed or combed.
Hair can also be naturally prone to excessive amounts of breakage. This is an inherited condition and the aim of treatment is to manage the problem by handing your hair gently and ensuring it is well moisturised.

Treatment

Treatment for hair breakage depends on what caused it. If the hair breakage has been caused by heat and chemical damage, you should steam your hair weekly with an intensive conditioning treatment. If you relax your hair, you must ensure that you retouch your hair at the right times. The longer your hair grows without being retouched the more likely it is to break off. Hair should be brushed or combed gently, dealing with any tangles as you come across them. You should ensure your diet contains plenty of protein, vitamins and minerals, to enrich and strengthen your hair.
The Black hair clinics intensive conditioning treatment is a moisturising and reconstructive treatment in one and will help to hydrate and reconstruct your hair.

What is it?

Dry hair looks and feels dry to touch and lacks bother lustre and shine. Dry hair is a condition where the hair lacks moisture (mixture of sebum (oil) and water).

Causes

Black hair lacks moisture for many reasons. The natural shape of the hair prevents sebum a natural lubricant from the hair from being able to moisturise the hair. The high levels of chemicals and heat used during styling contribute massively to dry hair. On the other hand, black hair also lacks moisture if it is not moisturised enough. Most people don’t moisturise their hair as often as they should particularly in braided and weaved hair styles. Climate also plays a role in our hair being dry. The lack of humidity in the British climate prevents black hair from getting the moisture it needs. Hair can also be naturally dry. This is genetically inherited from one or both parents.

Treatments

If your hair is dry because of chemical and heat styling, you should incorporate moisturising treatments with steam into your hair care routine. You should moisturise your hair little and often so that your hair maintains a constant supply of moisture. This moisture should be sealed in with an oil based product.

Product recommendations
Try the Black Hair Clinics (BHC’s)
Moisturising scalp and hair lotion
Moisturising scalp and hair cream
Moisturising scalp and hair spray
Scalp and hair grooming butter