experts warn
A tight bun can be so damaging to your hair
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Wearing a tight bun every day can lead to hair loss. But what exactly is behind it? We clarify.
If you’re wearing a high bun that’s pinned up, think twice about loosening it up a bit. Because the horror story of the 22-year-old Englishwoman Diva Hollands draws attention to the fact that wearing a braid or bun that is too tight can lead to hair loss.
The ballerina bun: It can be so dangerous for you
A young woman from near London, Diva Hollands has been dancing ballet professionally since she was three years old. In addition to lacing pointe shoes, this also includes wearing a tight knot in the neck or at the back of the head. Because strands falling in the face interfere with dancing.
The consequence? Over the years, she has gradually lost hair at the hairline and has a receding hairline. The situation got so bad that she was bullied by her classmates and kept coming up with new techniques to cover up the approach: “When I was 13, it was particularly bad. The boys in my class joke about I took my approach and compared it to a soccer field. That’s how hair loss became an ever-growing thing for me,” says the 22-year-old.
What’s so dangerous about tight pinning:
The form of hair loss that we cause ourselves is called traction alopecia and is the result of constant wear and tear from too tight plaits, buns and tightly braided braids. If we tie our hair tightly back every day and thus put a certain amount of pressure on the hair, it can lose its elasticity over time, the growth process can be stopped, and in the worst case it will fall out and the hair will no longer grow back. This creates a receding hairline, small flying baby hairs and a forehead that is too high.
Last resort: hair transplant
If loosening the hair and changing the hairstyle every day no longer helps and the hair roots have already fallen out and are no longer growing back, then a transplant is often the only way out. This is also the case with the former ballerina diva Hollands: She saw no other solution than going to a specialist and having hair transplanted in the bald areas.
In the complex and expensive procedure (you have to reckon with costs of around 2000 euros), hair follicles are transplanted into the scalp and anchored there with the hair root. This is the only way to ensure that the hair grows again. But a residual risk remains: the scalp has to accept the new hair follicles so that the hair continues to grow. If this is not the case or the follicle is shed, then it can come back to failure.
Fortunately, this is not the case with Hollands, and the mother of two can look forward to her new hair and the resulting new self-esteem: “It has completely changed my life. I couldn’t be happier with the result!”
The thoroughbred mother presents herself openly on Instagram and shows how beautiful she feels after the hair transplant. If you want to know more about hair loss, you can read the ten most important answers about hair loss here.
Reading tip: Here you can find out what diffuse hair loss can do.