5 Dangers Of Protective Styling
A lot of us assume protective styling is one of the best things we can do to protect our hair. It’s literally in the name. But the irony is protective styling can oftentimes do a lot of damage to our hair. Here are just 5 hidden dangers of protective styling.
1. Tension On Your Roots
Any protective style that features extensions or precise parting like box braids, marley twists, etc. can cause immense tension on your roots. This kind of pressure on your roots can rip the hairs right out of the follicles. This can lead to thinning and/or traction alopecia.
2. Overly Dry Strands
When your hair is put away in protective styles for long periods of time, it can become difficult to maintain an effective moisturizing routine. This can leave your strands excessively dry and brittle, which can then lead to excessive breakage, particularly during take down.
3. Product Buildup On Hair And Scalp
Product buildup can also pose a big threat to the health of your scalp and hair. The buildup can clog your follicles and keep moisture from reaching your strands. This can lead to dry, weak hair that is prone to breakage.
4. Friction And Breakage
Yet another common cause of breakage is friction, and though we don’t normally think about it, sometimes the extensions we use in our protective styles can be too rough for our hair. The friction caused by installing, wearing, and deinstalling your protective style could cause additional breakage.
5. Excessive Shedding
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Finally, the tension and heaviness caused by protective styling can lead to an excessive amount of shedding. Your head sheds a certain amount of strands daily, but when the stress of a protective style causes excessive shedding, that can lead to thinning and/or traction alopecia. Especially if you get back to back protective styles.
What are some other pitfalls of protective styling? Share in the comments.
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