Wearing hair against natural growth direction?

[fairy_hair]

Hello everyone,

This is hard to describe, but I wondered if anyone else has experience with something like this.

For years, I have worn my hair up in a braided or twisted loose-ish bun secured with a claw clip (or 4 small claw clips). Loose, meaning there is no noticeable pulling or uncomfortable side effects when I wear my hair up.

However, my hairs at the front have not been growing to full length for years, and I can't remember if they ever did or if this is just how my hair is. They are too short to reach a ponytail or the base of a bun, the very front ones are only an inch or two long, so I need hairgrips or a headband to keep them (mostly) back.

I usually have been brushing my hair back smooth (concealing my parting) for my buns, using hairgrips or a headband to tame the 'fringe' hairs.

I have noticed that when my hair is left alone, it has a direction of growth that seems to go almost forwards, or very downward... so this is why I think possibly that wearing it in the opposite direction (upwards and towards the top/back of my head) may be causing damage at the roots, stunting the growth of the front hairs?

Does anyone else think that this is possible?

To try and see if it makes any difference, I am now committing to wearing my hair in a braid to sleep, with the parting in place and hairs hanging down in their natural direction, and during the day, keeping my natural part in place, letting my hair hang down as it wants to, then tucking my hair behind my ears and securing into my usual low, claw-held twisted bun without pulling any of the hair upwards, but just low and back (like when getting a trim!).

Anyone else who has experienced issues with wearing hair against the natural growth direction, please let me know! I find it annoying to honour my natural growth direction because it actually makes me sleepy to keep my hairs hanging downwards, but if it means I'm not harming my hair then I will have to get used to it.

[SandyBottom]

I used to wear tight braids and high ponytails (and do a bunch of other bad things to my hair) for decades. My hairline receded a bit and i had a lot of broken hair and split ends from all the mistreatment. I would brush it to cover my part before putting up. Since taking care of my hair these past few years by wearing a low bun, almost no ponytails and letting my hair sit more in its natural direction, it has recovered nicely. The hairline is improved and there are a lot of new hairs around my temples and crown area. In fact...I noticed just recently I have all these hairs that are about 4"-6" giving me a bit of a (are you familiar with Animal from The Muppets?) Animal vibe...ragga-muffin look. It's okay though, keeping my eye on the prize. They'll grow out.

Anyway, I think you're on the right track. Be gentle with your hairline.

[fairy_hair]

I used to wear tight braids and high ponytails (and do a bunch of other bad things to my hair) for decades. My hairline receded a bit and i had a lot of broken hair and split ends from all the mistreatment. I would brush it to cover my part before putting up. Since taking care of my hair these past few years by wearing a low bun, almost no ponytails and letting my hair sit more in its natural direction, it has recovered nicely. The hairline is improved and there are a lot of new hairs around my temples and crown area. In fact...I noticed just recently I have all these hairs that are about 4"-6" giving me a bit of a (are you familiar with Animal from The Muppets?) Animal vibe...ragga-muffin look. It's okay though, keeping my eye on the prize. They'll grow out.

Anyway, I think you're on the right track. Be gentle with your hairline.

Thanks for your reply, personal experiences are often helpful insight.

That's really good that you have seen improvements! Maybe it was due to the looser styles, or maybe it was partly due to respecting the natural direction, I will continue doing as you did either way. I have been otherwise extremely careful with my hair but maybe since it is fine texture and I possibly have an extra delicate hairline, maybe brushing against the natural direction had an impact afterall!

I will find out in time I suppose.

[cadaverinna]

It can damage the follicules, yes! But those you have are most likely baby hairs.

FIY: our hair has 3-4 stages of "hair life"(depends who you're asking, where I am it's considered 4), from active growth to a resting phase, then shed and preparing for the new active growth phase. And, besides the follicules being in different stages in every moment, they might vary their terminal length throughout the head bc they simply have a shorter active growth phase. So, basically, they have different terminal lengths, like head hair vs arm hair have, too.

I second your experiment on not going "against the grain", but it might take years before you can notice a difference, if that's the case. If you can't find pictures from not too long ago(hair changes a lot up until we're about 20yo) where you had longer hairs in the front or if you went through pregnancy or any other hormonal change(hysterectomy, prescribed hormones etc) or treatment(like chemotherapy), I'd assume they're baby hairs and just have a shorter growth phase.
If they bother you too too much, you could consider a fringe or a smoothing pomade/gel.

[fairy_hair]

It can damage the follicules, yes! But those you have are most likely baby hairs.

FIY: our hair has 3-4 stages of "hair life"(depends who you're asking, where I am it's considered 4), from active growth to a resting phase, then shed and preparing for the new active growth phase. And, besides the follicules being in different stages in every moment, they might vary their terminal length throughout the head bc they simply have a shorter active growth phase. So, basically, they have different terminal lengths, like head hair vs arm hair have, too.

I second your experiment on not going "against the grain", but it might take years before you can notice a difference, if that's the case. If you can't find pictures from not too long ago(hair changes a lot up until we're about 20yo) where you had longer hairs in the front or if you went through pregnancy or any other hormonal change(hysterectomy, prescribed hormones etc) or treatment(like chemotherapy), I'd assume they're baby hairs and just have a shorter growth phase.
If they bother you too too much, you could consider a fringe or a smoothing pomade/gel.

Hmm I have wondered if they are baby hairs, but it's not just the very front, also quite a thick section around grows only about 4 or 5 inches, and about 10 years ago (just before I started wearing my hair up every day and night), I wore a ponytail for a few years in the daytime and the front hairs stayed back without any clips, at least mostly. Yesterday when I tried to wear a bun without clips, it was so annoying and embarrassing how much hair falls to the front, which is why I suspect it's damage. The hairs are not broken at the ends though, they are just not growing long, which leads me to think maybe keeping them back against their growth direction is halting their blood supply or causing them to fall out of the follicle prematurely or something!

Today I wore my hair in a bun with the hair laying downwards, and surprisingly I needed no clips at all except the single claw clip for the bun, and the front hairs stayed down easily, so I will keep this up and see if anything improves!

[cadaverinna]

Hmm I have wondered if they are baby hairs, but it's not just the very front, also quite a thick section around grows only about 4 or 5 inches, and about 10 years ago (just before I started wearing my hair up every day and night), I wore a ponytail for a few years in the daytime and the front hairs stayed back without any clips, at least mostly. Yesterday when I tried to wear a bun without clips, it was so annoying and embarrassing how much hair falls to the front, which is why I suspect it's damage. The hairs are not broken at the ends though, they are just not growing long, which leads me to think maybe keeping them back against their growth direction is halting their blood supply or causing them to fall out of the follicle prematurely or something!

Today I wore my hair in a bun with the hair laying downwards, and surprisingly I needed no clips at all except the single claw clip for the bun, and the front hairs stayed down easily, so I will keep this up and see if anything improves!

Oh, if you've been wearing it up(like up-up, not braids), that could indicate traction alopecia. The hairs around the hair line are very delicate, and their follicules too, so that's usually where the symptoms will show up, and sometimes it's a shortening of the growth phase that could be temporary or permanent. I'm terrified of that, so I'm always changing the way I wear my hair(including where I part it!). After waist it usually lives in a simple braid, so I've never had issues.

[fairy_hair]

Oh, if you've been wearing it up(like up-up, not braids), that could indicate traction alopecia. The hairs around the hair line are very delicate, and their follicules too, so that's usually where the symptoms will show up, and sometimes it's a shortening of the growth phase that could be temporary or permanent. I'm terrified of that, so I'm always changing the way I wear my hair(including where I part it!). After waist it usually lives in a simple braid, so I've never had issues.

That's what I'm thinking! Hopefully it will heal, I'm only 25 and never had it super tight, and not actually any bald spots, just short spots... so definitely wearing it more natural now. I would definitely wear it in a braid every day but any time I try that it just all slips out and gets so messy... so the clip bun with natural sitting roots it is, but I'm having a braid at night instead of a top bun now so that should help. Do you think it's more likely to fully heal if I'm young? I hope so!

[vampyyri]

That's what I'm thinking! Hopefully it will heal, I'm only 25 and never had it super tight, and not actually any bald spots, just short spots... so definitely wearing it more natural now. I would definitely wear it in a braid every day but any time I try that it just all slips out and gets so messy... so the clip bun with natural sitting roots it is, but I'm having a braid at night instead of a top bun now so that should help. Do you think it's more likely to fully heal if I'm young? I hope so!

Braid hack: You can greatly negate braid shred by doing a light coating of aloe gel over the braid, it acts as a light gel and keeps everything in place

I think you'll be just fine as long as you keep it where it wants to naturally sit!

[fairy_hair]

Braid hack: You can greatly negate braid shred by doing a light coating of aloe gel over the braid, it acts as a light gel and keeps everything in place

I think you'll be just fine as long as you keep it where it wants to naturally sit!

You know, I might get some aloe gel and try that! Is it otherwise good for your hair too?

[shelomit]

I'm curious whether the hairs in question are also thinner on average than the rest of your hair. That is usually a good metric of whether they are "baby hairs" that have a very limited maximum length.

My hair strongly wants to part in the center so I always wear it that way; I can't speak to how it might behave if I parted it somewhere else ( ; But I have always been kind of surprised at the fact that the hairs directly along the parting don't seem to take much mechanical damage despite being always so exposed.