‘This is your sign to stop’: Woman likes to wear hair in slicked-back bun. Then she sees the permanent damage it caused
It's time! Everyone is gearing up for Spring and Summertime looks. The outfit and style collages are being scrutinized and posted. But your #ootd scrolling so serendipitously aligns with some wise words from TikTok user April (@aaprilcam).
Can slicked-back hairstyles cause hair loss?
In her TikTok of about 151,000 views, April forewarns the damages of that dewy, sleek Spring look. While she is out to eat and wearing her hair down in a relaxed wavy style, her middle hair parting reveals more skin than one might expect. Right in the middle, the hair is thinning.
"Take this as your sign to stop doing slicked back hairstyle every other day," she writes in the on-screen caption.
The American Academy of Dermatology verifies traction alopecia as a condition where repeated pressure or pulling on the scalp causes hair loss.
What other factors can cause hair loss?
There was much debate in the comments section about whether April's thinning is due to slicked-back hairstyles or other underlying conditions. There were a lot of comments boasting the side part as a saving grace too. One reads, "the millennial side part welcomes you. Hi, you’ll love it here." But not everyone getting anxious about thinning hair wants to be relegated to a side part for the rest of their days.
Another comment alternately suggested that her patch "looks more like Female Pattern Hair Loss rather than traction alopecia (cause[d] by tight hairstyles). Minoxidil works for this."
Others said "It could also be signs of PCOS" or "just high cortisol levels, stress, depression and anxiety".
What can help reverse hair loss?
The most numerous suggestion was the medication minoxidil, which can help stimulate hair growth. The runner-up was a product called OUAI Scalp Serum, followed by natural oils and vitamins.
User @dj82623 advised those dealing with tension hair loss to "Change your part for a while. I have used ouai scalp serum for hair loss from stress." The comment spurred excitement and some questions about whether or not the serum actually helped. "Yes!! I had tons of hair loss on my temples similar to postpartum hair loss and it’s all growing back now."
The Daily Dot has reported on other hair-loss ventures in the past. One woman hesitant to rely on natural products used pumpkin seed oil successfully. We reached out to April to hear what products she is using to combat her hair loss. If nothing else, the comments on this TikTok 100% validate her experience and assure all other sufferers of traction alopecia that they are not alone.
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