Hairstylist ‘Frees’ Woman With Severe Traction Alopecia Hair Loss

The dangers of choosing hairstyles that can lead to hair loss is well documented, but Traction Alopecia - the name of the condition this can lead to - isn’t always the nightmare it first appears, as many people who have successfully been treated for it will attest.

Adding to the arsenal of remedial measures for people with Traction Alopecia is the incredible work of a hairstylist in the US, who might not be able to ‘fix’ Traction Alopecia in terms of regrowing hair, but she can certainly do something about hiding it.

Her name is Jasmine Collins, she works at the Razor Chic salon in Atlanta and as her 400,000 Instagram followers will confirm, she can work wonders on people whose hairlines have been ravaged by Traction Alopecia. This service is particularly useful to those seeking Traction Alopecia treatment and don't know how to style their hair without relying on wigs, which may make their condition worse, as they wait for signs of regrowth to appear.

Stress on the scalp

The condition arises when people choose a hairstyle that causes prolonged stress on the scalp. Hairstyles that let hair hang loose should never cause Traction Alopecia; it is only brought on by styles like tight braids, buns, hair extensions and, in some cases, taut high pony tails that are worn all the time. Specialist treatment at a hair loss clinic can help to reverse the damage in some cases but as Ms Collins has demonstrated, quite a lot can be done to cover up the damage, too as long as you're open to wearing your hair short.

Ms Collins’ approach to the hair of a 23-year-old client whose Traction Alopecia was caused by both braids and weaves was to straighten her hair and comb it forward, artfully covering the affected area.

Click to View Belgravia's Traction Alopecia Treatment Success Stories

“I’m not anti-weave,” writes Ms Collins on her Instagram post (pictured), “but U just can’t live by it on an everyday basis.” She adds that stylists should stop “chasing the dollar” and that they should perhaps start “listening to the hair” to avoid hair loss to Traction Alopecia, which is the only entirely avoidable hair loss condition. Many people simply don’t realise that the styles they have chosen can cause such stress on their follicles.

Guidelines to help avoid Traction Alopecia

Ms Collins’ words echo those of the Johns Hopkins School Of Medicine in Baltimore which published guidelines earlier this year to help women avoid Traction Alopecia. They discovered that around a third of African American women were affected by the condition, and wrote that “we have to do better as care providers to offer our patients proper guidance.”

The Johns Hopkins team recommended that braided hairstyles should never be kept in place longer than three months, while weaves and extensions were deemed to be at most risk of causing damage after about eight weeks.

What Ms Collins’ hair transformation certainly does is offer her client the chance to conceal her hair loss while undergoing a bespoke treatment course, such as that offered by Belgravia. If the client’s follicles have not been irreparably damaged, then it is possible that a bespoke treatment course featuring one of the range of high strength minoxidil products recommended may help to re-establish her hairline in a relatively short time-frame.