HELP?!? Dreads fell out!

I have been to the doctor before about this issue and they have any ideas on why it was falling out. But I will probably go see adermatologistinstead this time. (: And thank you for your feedback! I will take it into account. *The dreads started getting thin at the roots and hanging on by a little hair and fell off by the way.

ToTheAnkles! said:

My previous post should be taken with a grain of salt. I did some more reading here and I stumbled upon some threads about traction alopecia. I seriously did not know that even existed. I knew excessive pulling of the hair could cause it to fall out but I never thought it could ruin growth and all.

I still suggest visiting a doctor because there is certainly a possibility that it's an illness or nutrient deficiency, but I think the most likely cause is actually traction alopecia and that the best thing is to promote bloodflow to the scalp. I didn't know that this condition led to partial baldness in such a pattern, as such I assumed it to most likely be different problem.

Now I'm going to be way more careful when drying my dreads. I'm normally quite rough but now I'm going to be real careful.

updated by @miss-anonymous: 07/23/15 04:45:32AM

I agree with SE, its the overtwisting. everyone that I knew that had locs that were either too thin or overtwisted or a combination of both went bald and lost their hair. i have very kinky hair with no curl pattern (i am of african descent as well) and i do not retwist at all. now mind you im only 5 weeks in but within those 5 weeks my hair is already locked (had confirmation from a few loc veterans in RL), very strong, and I freeform.

Retwisting and palm rolling is not necessary for our hair to loc. Start with that first, soon as you said that your loc was hanging from a strand of hair I instantly flash backed to the bouts of the fallen locs that ive seen from others. I believe that the years and years of twisting built up to what causes your locs to be weak today. I hope this helps. Please send me a message if you need any support.

Wow, thank you. I love this site. I am learning so much from you all. Do you have any ideas on how I should start my new dreads (using the bald part)? Or should I just leave that part alone?

Beijaflor said:

I agree with SE, its the overtwisting. everyone that I knew that had locs that were either too thin or overtwisted or a combination of both went bald and lost their hair. i have very kinky hair with no curl pattern (i am of african descent as well) and i do not retwist at all. now mind you im only 5 weeks in but within those 5 weeks my hair is already locked (had confirmation from a few loc veterans in RL), very strong, and I freeform.

Retwisting and palm rolling is not necessary for our hair to loc. Start with that first, soon as you said that your loc was hanging from a strand of hair I instantly flash backed to the bouts of the fallen locs that ive seen from others. I believe that the years and years of twisting built up to what causes your locs to be weak today. I hope this helps. Please send me a message if you need any support.

let them dread naturaly (freeform) your going to want yo go ggentle on that area anyways and nothings gentler then dreading naturally

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Okay. I will try that method and see what happens. (:

soaring eagle said:

let them dread naturaly (freeform) your going to want yo go ggentle on that area anyways and nothings gentler then dreading naturally

Hi, it looks like you got the maintenance issue well under way. I'm curious though, when you spoke with your Dr did they do any tests to determine for sure that you may be deficient? This would be a good start and then from those results consult a nutritionist and get a healthier diet plan. This should definitely NOT be ruled out.

Good luck.

The doctor took a culture of my hair to see if fungus or something of that sort was the cause, but the test results came back clear. And they said my iron levels were a little low. I am trying to get more iron into my by eating more beans and spinach etc now. It probably has to do with my diet as well.

Valrie said:

Hi, it looks like you got the maintenance issue well under way. I'm curious though, when you spoke with your Dr did they do any tests to determine for sure that you may be deficient? This would be a good start and then from those results consult a nutritionist and get a healthier diet plan. This should definitely NOT be ruled out.

Good luck.

Avoid spinach. It's a great vegetable but the last thing you want to consume when short on any mineral, especially iron.The best to eat would be lentils. They contain a ton of iron, are quite a good source of protein (for a vegetarian food, anyway) and are rich in just about every mineral and vitamin. They also provide alot of calories which is exactly what you need to recover your hair. Search some indian recipes and you'll be surprised at what you can make with lentils, and the bonus is virtually all the dishes are vegan. Oh and they're really really cheap when you buy them dried.A nutritionist is about as useless as possible. They're just going to put you on a diet of "plenty of healthy grains and bread" which is exactly the thing that causes nutrient deficiency in vegans.As a vegan you need to make sure that you have either food or supplementation that contains vitamin B12 and DHA/EPA. Not getting enough B12 can cause irreversible damage and it cannot be stored by the body, it's essential that you get enough of that each and every day. Not getting enough DHA/EPA is not going to have severe health problems, but the health benefits are so massive that you wouldn't believe it if I listed them here. They literally prevent everything from heart disease to cancer. Watch out for fish oil supplements (they aren't vegan anyway but I'm just listing this just in case) because some can contain toxins. There are vegan DHA/EPA supplements, so google for those. 110g (4oz) salmon daily would eliminate the need for supplementation (both B12 and EPA/DHA), but isn't vegan.This is all just to speed up any new hair growth. Twisting and palmrolling causes damage to the scalp and vitamins can't fix that. I think the culture of your hair pretty much rules out every other possibility save for some really obscure disease. Iron levels being "A little low" is good news because that wouldn't cause hair loss and that pretty much says you don't have iron absorption issues so that you can fix it by diet.

I would let that part out a bit and from there you can either create twists and let them loc from there on its own without retwisting or you can just let them grow organically and just separate into the size locs that you want them to be.

Wow! THATS REALLY GREAT ADVICE! My mom cooks lentils all the time and I love them, so that is good news! (:

ToTheAnkles! said:

Avoid spinach. It's a great vegetable but the last thing you want to consume when short on any mineral, especially iron.

The best to eat would be lentils. They contain a ton of iron, are quite a good source of protein (for a vegetarian food, anyway) and are rich in just about every mineral and vitamin. They also provide alot of calories which is exactly what you need to recover your hair. Search some indian recipes and you'll be surprised at what you can make with lentils, and the bonus is virtually all the dishes are vegan. Oh and they're really really cheap when you buy them dried.

A nutritionist is about as useless as possible. They're just going to put you on a diet of "plenty of healthy grains and bread" which is exactly the thing that causes nutrient deficiency in vegans.

As a vegan you need to make sure that you have either food or supplementation that contains vitamin B12 and DHA/EPA. Not getting enough B12 can cause irreversible damage and it cannot be stored by the body, it's essential that you get enough of that each and every day. Not getting enough DHA/EPA is not going to have severe health problems, but the health benefits are so massive that you wouldn't believe it if I listed them here. They literally prevent everything from heart disease to cancer. Watch out for fish oil supplements (they aren't vegan anyway but I'm just listing this just in case) because some can contain toxins. There are vegan DHA/EPA supplements, so google for those. 110g (4oz) salmon daily would eliminate the need for supplementation (both B12 and EPA/DHA), but isn't vegan.

This is all just to speed up any new hair growth. Twisting and palmrolling causes damage to the scalp and vitamins can't fix that. I think the culture of your hair pretty much rules out every other possibility save for some really obscure disease. Iron levels being "A little low" is good news because that wouldn't cause hair loss and that pretty much says you don't have iron absorption issues so that you can fix it by diet.