My Black is NOT Cracking.

After the slap heard around the world, it’s hard not to think about hair of late.  (Or lack thereof.)  My daughter and I had a conversation about it in which she shared with me the traumatic experience of hair-loss for women and how devasted her clients are as a result of discovering hair loss. I get it.  Our hair is considered our crown. 

I remember getting my first in many years, (and last!) relaxer in 2007.  Within weeks I had lost most of my hair and she’s right; it was devastating.  I was in LA and had just started going to a new salon.  I had the same stylist back east for many years who told me you don’t need to relax your hair.  I stopped. I returned to my Philly stylist with a lot less hair only to be told that my hair was “dead.” The best we could do was to chop it off and start over.  It was devastating and I wasn’t even bald.  It was just a lot thinner and broken off.  I ended up with a short cut I loved. On more than one occasion I would get bored with my hair and chop it all off to my stylist’s and other client’s shock. Short hair wasn’t new territory, it just wasn’t planned.

Post cut, I remember landing in LA and waiting on my bags at baggage claim and having the comedian DL Hughley walk up to me and say, “Nice cut.”  Tragedy averted. That said, it bothers me even now to see my hair thinning as I age, so I can only imagine how it would feel to lose it all. 

Even my daughter’s hair is a lot thinner than it started and I’m sure is a result of going to high school for cosmetology and starting the practice of gluing in weaves more than 20 years ago. Its thin, but it grows. Like me, and I’m sure many others, she would get bored with her hair and glue some in. (The bored part. Not the glue part!)  Eventually, she would graduate to the sew in.  She had fine hair to start with which she obviously inherited from her grandmother.  But I know what she started with, and the weaves definitely resulted in thinning.

Sadly, the weave process for a while now has been clinically proven to cause permanent hair loss. This isn’t new info. Whether it became the “in” thing to do as a result of an attempt to meet some sort of white beauty standard, it seems that we are literally willing to go bald in order to do so.  Whether for versatility or convenience, it somehow became standard practice for black women to glue or sew another woman’s hair onto their heads! (Or something synthetic that who knows what it’s doing to our scalps and brains!)

My daughter used to tell me that hair was like jewelry and that it was an accessory.  But short of breaking out from some cheap earrings, I don’t believe for one second that jewelry can cause permanent damage. (Unless of course, it’s a wedding ring! Those things have been shown to do some damage.)

Now of course, the other side of the story is that for a black woman to wear her natural hair, it was often looked upon as Afrocentric. For her hair to be considered beautiful, it needed to be straight by way of processing, wig, or weave. That’s all changed now in the woke era.  You’re hard pressed to find a black woman in a commercial with straight hair.  It seems like we went from one extreme to the next, because after all, that’s what we do! I’m happy to see women wearing their natural hair. But let’s be clear, natural hair is work.  I’ve worn the wash and go, and it is more than a notion! It is definitely NOT a maintenance-free look! And truth be told, I attempted some vacation hair twice and two days into the vacation, it came out. (Intentionally!) I mistakenly thought it would be maintenance free, but since it was pieces and not a full head, the blend game was work! And those few braids were driving me nuts.  Not to mention, I felt like the cowardly lion!  Had me looking all over the resort for the tin man and the scarecrow! I truly don’t know how women do it.  I guess you get used to it.  I doubt I will ever know, but who knows what fun aging will bring so I’ve learned to rarely say “never.” 

One argument you hear in defense of the weave is that it makes it easier for women to be able to work out without fear of ruining their hair.  And for the percentage of us that “actually” work out, there is much truth to that.  (That said, not everyone is working out!) I work out hardest the day before I know I have an appointment.  We sweat and it’s a wrap.  Unlike white women, we aren’t going to run to the showers and stick our heads in. For the most part, it’s just not an option based on how you wear your hair. We can’t go the salon every other day.  Even if it was financially feasible, who has the time? You’re already in there for what feels like eternity when you go! And would frequent visits and all the processing really be that good for our hair?  

Would that be worse than a weave?  Is a weave really a protective style?  And how many times have you seen someone that never comes out of the weave?  What are you protecting?  What’s the point of protecting if you never wear your real hair?  We went decades without weaves and women had heads full of healthy hair without protecting.  Even with relaxers, I would dare to say that most women who got relaxers didn’t experience hair loss.  In my case, it was too strong.  She left it on too long and I didn’t need one!  I stupidly let her talk me into it.  I got them for years and never lost a strand.  I changed stylists and she said, you don’t need this, and I stopped!  I figured, why put chemical on my brain that I don’t need and not for nothing, why pay for something a professional has told me I don’t need to do?  She always told me she wouldn’t lighten my hair because that process also damages our hair.  But I guess all the new blondes running around are not all that concerned.  YET.  Let a patch come up missing????

So, let’s talk about hair loss.  Not claiming to be an expert here, but after the whole Oscars drama I couldn’t help but be curious.  So, I did a little research.

There seem to be two main types of hair loss or alopecia that sisters experience.  One is called traction alopecia.  This is cause by tension on the roots of our hair.  The constant pulling of the hair from the root.  You know; like from weaves and braids.  I have an idea.  Let’s pull it really tight and then let’s put really heavy, waist-length hair on it and then wonder why we go bald.  Sounds like tension to me.  You know, like when you see a little black girl with her ponytails pulled so tight, she looks of Asian descent.   (I kid!) But you’ve seen them.  (95 little ballies in their heads.) Shhhhh first thing I did when I got my grandbaby alone was pull her little ponytail holders out and rub her little brains. 

Then there is Central Centrifugal Cicatricial Alopecia.  This is a form of scarring on the scalp that can cause hair loss.  “It is a complex condition impacted by a variety of potential risk factors, some of which may include the following: fungal infections, bacterial infections, auto-immune disease, genetics, diabetes and thyroid disease. It is also the most common form of hair loss affecting black women aged 30-55.”  And although it can affect others, it’s very rare.  Sounds to me like our over all health, or lack thereof could potentially be playing a role in all this hair loss as well. (Infections? Auto-immune issues?)

In either case, it’s a result of the follicle becoming inflamed and damaged resulting in scar tissue.  Androgenic alopecia, which most commonly affects young women and children, is related to an auto-immune response.  The body forms these cells that attack hair follicles.  It causes the hair growth to stop and the follicle to enter a resting phase.  This leads to hair loss. 

Dr. Yolanda Lenzy is a board-certified dermatologist. Her research and clinical practice focuses on hair and scalp disorders and skin disease in skin of color. Before college, Dr. Lenzy trained in cosmetology and was a licensed cosmetologist. Her background as a hair stylist is what fueled her passion to focus her career on care for the hair and scalp from a medical perspective.  Dr. Lenzy has participated in numerous studies on the various causes of hair loss, including partnering with local hair salons to educate stylists on ways to help prevent styling induced hair loss. She has authored numerous publications for academic journals and has presented her research to many scientific meetings around the world.

During the American Academy of Dermatology’s 74th Annual meeting Dr. Yolanda Lenzy, presented a study that found that 47.6 percent of African American women reported hair loss to the crown or top of the scalp.  “When you see pustules forming from the tension of braids, for example, that’s a clear sign of inflammation,”Lenzy says. “The temple follicles are very delicate. You can look at the follicles under a microscope, and they’re much smaller. The hairline will fall out with same tension that’s applied elsewhere on the scalp.”

Well, that explains the baldness headband I witnessed at the salon when this celebrity had her weave “taken down.”  Yeah, I learned that term from a man who often helps his wife “take down” her weaves, but I’m going to save that story for another writing project! 

In a review of 19 studies, researchers at Johns Hopkins say they can confirm a “strong association” between certain scalp-pulling hairstyles — many common among African-Americans — and the development of traction alopecia, gradual hair loss caused by damage to the hair follicle from prolonged or repeated tension on the hair root. An estimated one-third of African-American women suffer from traction alopecia, making it the most common form of hair loss among that group.

And again, while some might suggest that relaxers might damage the hair and scalp as well, Crystal Aguh, MD, Assistant Professor of Dermatology at John’s Hopkins University School of Medicine and author of the Johns Hopkins review states, “Some people just have more resilient hair and can do all of these hair practices and never have issues.” 

“Hair is a cornerstone of self-esteem and identity for many people,” says Aguh, “but ironically, some hairstyles meant to improve our self-confidence actually lead to hair and scalp damage.” Traction alopecia, she adds, is entirely preventable. Early intervention can stop or reverse it. 

Paula Lundy, a former schoolteacher before transitioning to becoming a hairstylist, is a master cosmetologist in Atlanta. Her short stylish haircuts as well as her anti-extension stance has resulted in substantial following on Instagram. Her cuts look amazing.  Check out Paula Hair on IG. She is known for hashtags such as #wearyourhair. “Black women have become so dependent on weave,” says Lundy. “They’re bald all the way back to ears and continue to get weave. Jasmine Collins, AKA Razor Chic has amassed more than half a million posting shocking “before” videos of her balding clients without their weaves.

Look, it’s common knowledge that there was, and no doubt continues to be mad discrimination against women who wear their natural hair to work.(Although the Crown Act is now law, so hopefully we will see improvement!)  I’m pretty sure that sisters have missed out on opportunities based on not only their skin color, but their hair style.  They needed to look “less black.” Like most forms of discrimination, it may always exist.  I hope not. We shall see!

But there has got to be a better way. Like poor diet and sedentary lifestyles, is weave just another bad and unhealthy habit? Is some of this pain self-inflicted? Is the solution to managing our hair, to simply hide it?  Because it seems like the only thing we are managing to do is damage it and lose it.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/all_hairstyles_are_not_created_equal