Hi Everybody! Hope your all having a beautiful day. So today is my one month anniversary and I am feeling pretty excellent about my hair (minus the frizz factor) I have a question for you all especially those with darker hair. So I noticed the first time I washed my hair a few weeks ago that there were these not so lovely white specs close to my roots. At first I panicked and thought I either had really bad dandruff or even worse Bugzz! But then I pulled on one and it was connected all he way through my dread...it was the hair that would have fallen out i guess but instead cause i have dreads it goes into the dread body. So my question issss am i always going to have these little white specs that dont blend in cause i have brown hair?? Do hairs go through cycles so they are not always falling out What can i do so it doesnt look funky? Any help or ideas or just same situation responses would be oh so appreciated! Bless!
updated by @stephanie-saunders: 01/13/15 08:30:43PM
Hair folicles and hair loss in dreads
@stephanie-saunders
14 years ago
19 posts
@stephanie-saunders
14 years ago
19 posts
Oh yay I am not alone. Well do the white things fall off eventually? Ivan said:
i have the same problem. :/
yea i got a little freaked out at first too, but then i realized what they were. i used to pull them all out but i eventually stopped. i know it was because i used to have rubberbands at my roots which pulls the hair out but ever since i took them out i don't see as many anymore and it's been almost 2 months. so just be a little patient and i'm sure they'll all go away inside a dread in time. good luck
@stephanie-saunders
14 years ago
19 posts
Oh Dear Everyone Thank you so much! for your kind replies. They are really comforting and helpful. So I did backcomb and I know my scalp was pretty unhappy with me for this and I think some of the hair loss(its not THAT bad could be due to backcombing.
@stephanie-saunders
14 years ago
19 posts
Thank u so much Jopo for your amazing reply. So I am confused about this if the shedding cycle is 2-3 weeks then how come we always loose hair? Or I did everytime I used to brush it..... So are you saying I was probably going through a shedding cycle thats why theres so many? All in all I am going to just chill out on this because it seems normal. Definitely might have been more intense (lost hairs) from my head getting used to dreads and the backcombing. Jopo said:
Apparently your hair/hair follicles have three cycles;
In the first cycle (the growing cycle) lil' baby follicles are being born, and are growing fast. So your hair grows it's fastest in this cycle (this is why you notice your hair taking longer to grow as it gets longer in length.) It usually lasts a year, but can last longer or shorter depending on genetics,
Then your hair will go into the second cycle, which is pretty much just a transition stage where the hair stops growing, and some of the follicles are replaced, for about two to three weeks.
After that the final cycle the hair dies, and some falls out (sounds scary, but is normal for everyone) the hair that doesn't come loose (most of it) is fully keratinized club hair, that, with it's buddies, will make a beautiful dread, and make everyone happy! But the hair that does come loose wont have anywhere to go, will stay in your hair, and the white will be follicles exposed.
Good news though, this is the shortest cycle and after it's done you'll have 2-3 years of steady growth. And I assume after your dreads mature, the cycles will be of little consequence, because they'll be settled and the roots will allow more room. I'm not certain though. I'm sure someone will.
I'm sorry I'm horrible at explaining this, its what I remember from researching hair loss in men (i was scared i was going to go the way of my father :P) but this applies for both genders!
Anyway, much love, and don't worry about it too much.
@stephanie-saunders
14 years ago
19 posts
Well i dig your theory. Thanks so much!