Thank you for the advice; I'll try that out. As far as the traction alopecia, is the video you shared the only thing I need to do; massage with olive oil? I've stepped up to washing more than once a week to potentially stimulate some growth in the thinner areas.
Some of them are two dreads that have formed into one at the roots. I think I would have to literally cut them to get them apart. Am I just stuck with that, or is it possible to work them apart without cutting? Does pulling them apart not contribute to the problem of traction alopecia? I've had them for over 7 years, so they are mature at this point. I'm still not sure how I feel about them joining together and essentially having less dreads as two dreads turn into one. Is there a reason why I shouldn't cut any of the hairs that are joined together, but instead pull them til they "pop"? Some are past the point where pulling them and popping them are an option I think :/ I wish I would have kept up with them better. I just wash them and let them do their thing pretty much.
I do have quite a few that are interlocking. Should I let them grow together, or should I try to snip the hairs and keep them apart?
I've had my dreadlocks for a little over 7 years. They are past my waist and relatively thick. I used a back comb method to lock up. I've visited a locktician twice, and never plan to again. The girl made my dreads SO tight at the scalp that it literally hurt to sleep on them for at least a week after both times I went to her. It also made these giant gaps between the locks and it looked terrible. I only went back a second time because some locks were locking up together and I wanted them separated. I think her tightening of my dreads, plus the length of them, has contributed to the situation I currently find myself in.
I thought to myself a few weeks ago, "I've never really looked at the top/back of my head since getting dreads; I wonder what it's looking like back there." I used a hand held mirror to check the top/back of my head and I was shocked to see that it looked like I was almost balding in certain spots. The dreads look fine otherwise, so I never really thought about it before. I tried to ignore it for the past few weeks, but it keeps nagging at me. I finally decided to look into it online and I've come across something called traction alopecia. It says if it isn't caught soon enough, it leads to permanent hair loss. That's a nightmare scenario for me personally. I absolutely LOVE my dreadlocks and would be crushed if they were going to cause me to lose my hair permanently.
Is there any way to reverse this damage and prevent it from continuing? The last thing I want is to have permanent hair loss damage, but I also loathe the thought of having to cut my dreadlocks off. Can anyone please offer some help? Is this really irreversible? Are there any essential oils or other remedies I can use to grow my hair back in these balding spots, or is the damage permanent? It's really stressing me out, and I'm sure that isn't helping the situation at all. I really look forward to hearing from someone who may be able to help.
I used the flashlight on my phone for light in the pictures. The light on phones these days are obnoxiously bright, so the bald spots look even worse in the pictures than they do in person, but it's still concerning. In the last picture, I moved a dread forward to reveal the bald gap underneath it.
Thank you for spending your time on me!
