When I first started my healthy hair journey it was back at the end of 2009. I decided I was going to stop getting a relaxer and wear weaves for a year to grow my hair out.
After fully assessing my hair, I realized I probably shouldn't wear weaves for a year, because I didn't want my already fine, nearly bald edges getting any thinner.
Years of African braiding, and one horrible weave I had done at a salon are what had caused my severely thinning edges. The horrible weave in particular managed to take out a good amount of hair follicles all in one sitting. With my hair already being super fine and fragile, It was easy for my edges to have thinned out with all of the tension that was being caused from these hair styles.
My hair was never long, so I never wore my hair in tight ponytails that would have been pulling my hair, and my mother used to loosely box braid and/or twist my hair as a child, and I never complained of hairstyles being too tight, so I knew it had nothing to do with my own styling, not to mention I would see the difference in my edges after taking down braids from African Hair Braiding. It had gotten to the point that I would only let them braid the back of my hair, and I would braid the front myself because I didn't want them tugging on my edges, using what seemed like one fragile strand per micro braid.
My hair was never long, so I never wore my hair in tight ponytails that would have been pulling my hair, and my mother used to loosely box braid and/or twist my hair as a child, and I never complained of hairstyles being too tight, so I knew it had nothing to do with my own styling, not to mention I would see the difference in my edges after taking down braids from African Hair Braiding. It had gotten to the point that I would only let them braid the back of my hair, and I would braid the front myself because I didn't want them tugging on my edges, using what seemed like one fragile strand per micro braid.
In the photos on the left side, the first 1/2" of my hairline is parted out. In the photos on the right, I parted out 1 inch from my hairline. I did this so you all can see the difference in the density.
I tried finding the photos of my hair before I went natural and how pathetic my edges looked, but since I couldn't find them, I came across these. This was my hair before I did my 3rd and final big chop:
These photos were back in May of 2010, and boy do I not miss my TWA nor those edges, lol.
Though my edges are still very thin, I am so glad to say they are doing so much better. I massage them with JBCO when ever I can remember, and use JBCO to slick back my edges and ponytails for the most part. I also do my best to massage them with whatever conditioner or moisturizer when I'm washing or styling my hair.
I know a lot of my follicles were damaged from styles with lots of tension, but I'm hoping for a miracle here... hoping all the little bald spots will grow in over time. This is also called Tension Alopecia.
I know follicle damage can be irreversible, so I'm just doing my best to hold on to the edges I have, and hopefully reawaken the follicles in the extremely thin/ bald areas.
How Have you Combated Your Thin Edges?
I'm going through it now with my edges. I've been natural for about 2 years now and for the majority of the time I wore wigs...including a lace front wig!! ( I know the horror!!) Never again. I just recently stopped wearing them because I also have super fine and thin hair and my edges are almost non-existent. I'm so mad at myself...but I'm determined to grow them back. I've also been using castor oil, hopefully I'll see some results in a couple of months. You should also try adding rosemary and peppermint oils to your deep conditioners, shampoo, and spritzes. They definitely wake the hair follicles up. The smell can be very overwhelming if you add too much so just start with a couple of drops of each.
ReplyDeleteAhhh! stay away from glue-ing those things down! lol Hair glue is the death of a lot of people's hair and follicles, usually because women remove them improperly.
DeleteHalf wigs are a good alternative so you can leave your edges out, and with proper care they can prosper, and not have to deal with tension from being pulled, or being pulled out with glue and things of that nature.
I do add peppermint oils and other growth stimulating oils, I've even tried different growth aids (will do a post on all this later), but thanks for all the advice, I hope my next post will have a few recommendations you can use as well!
Good luck with re-growing your edges! Treat them right and know it may take some time, but hard work and patience always pays off :)
Luckily, I always bared through the jokes about my kinky edges so I never was overbearing on my edges as far as gels, etc, but in hindsight, I agree that the lacefront wigs were thinning to my edges. Biotin, the Bee Mine growth serum, and the break from the protective stylings are working for me and I'm age 42. Smile.
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