Tying your hair too tight can cause baldness –

When it’s hot, the first thing you do is pin your hair up high. To do physical exercises, the movement is the same: a ponytail to keep the strands away from the face so as not to disturb the movement. On the beach: hair stuck. When it’s too windy, too. Strapping your hair is part of our daily lives, but yes, this habit can damage the strands and even cause hair loss.

“Loss of hair, in most situations, is linked to the person’s genetics or serious illnesses”, explains the trichologist Lidi Bastos. “Despite this, it is still possible that the reason for this loss of hair is associated with other routine factors. Among them, the main ones are: restrictive diets, excessive use of heat tools, such as the curling iron and flat iron, hair chemistry, such as progressive and discoloration, and the act of holding the hair very tightly.”

When we use a very strong rubber band to hold the hair, says the professional, it is possible to pull out strands and collaborate to leave them weaker and brittle.

“A very tight ponytail, or a bun, for example, generates greater tension in the scalp, that is, at the root of the hair, causing it to start falling from that place”, he adds.

THE EFFECTS OF LONG-TERM HAIR TRAPPING

Of course, these falls can be momentary – you tie your hair and when you remove the elastic, you already notice the strands trapped in the accessory –, but in the long run this can have a more significant effect.

According to Lidi, it is common for each person to lose about 100 hairs a day – this means that a loss greater than that number is a sign that something is wrong.

“With the use of these accessories that hold the hair a lot, over time, alopecia can appear, the condition that causes excessive hair loss, leaving the scalp showing, usually in rounded or oval formats, since the strands of hair region have fallen”, says Lidi.

CARE WHEN SLEEPING AND ALTERNATIVES TO ELASTIC

This care, of course, extends to bedtime: many women choose to sleep with their hair tied up, but believe me, this is not a good idea if what you are looking for are healthy strands.

“The best thing to do is to sleep with your hair loose, not damp or wet. Tight strands, by themselves, already cause breakage and fall, even more so during sleep, when the body moves a lot”, explains the specialist. “Always sleep with it loose and, preferably, with a satin cap so that the friction between the hair and the pillow also does not cause the strands to break.”

Ok, but still there are situations where tying your hair is interesting, whether to facilitate everyday tasks, or for a special event. In such cases, staples are great options that avoid hair breakage and don’t harm the scalp.

“The piranha clips, which are made of plastic, are also good”, he recommends. “An accessory that should always be avoided is the rubber band that has some kind of metal – they help to tangle the wires even more.”