Hair loss may be exacerbated by popular hair styles like braids and weaves, a new study says.
Both braids and weaves pull at the hair strands and researchers say this can cause inflammation and then scarring. With repeated pulling, the scarring can turn into hair loss or central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia.
"Central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA) is a term coined by the North American Hair Research Society to describe a scarring hair loss, centered on the vertex of the scalp, that spreads peripherally," the authors write as background information in the article published online today. "It is thought to be the most common pattern of scarring hair loss seen in African American women, yet so little is known about its true prevalence among them."
Researchers surveyed more than 300 African American women. The surveys found that one in six had scarring hair loss and more than half with the condition had repeatedly gotten braids, weaves or extensions.
Youth and women with thinning hair should consider the consequences of styles that pull at the scalp.
"If you start to notice this type of hair loss, get evaluated early," lead researcher Angela Kyei, M.D., a dermatologist and chief resident at the Cleveland Clinic's Dermatology and Plastic Surgery Institute, told CNN.
