Is follicle pain harmful?

[Miss Catrina]

I think everyone here has experienced "follicle pain" - that sore scalp you can get after taking your hair out of an updo or any other unnatural position. I've heard some people say they've experienced it and then gotten used to it...

But my question is, is it safe to ignore it and power through it by continuing to do the same things to your hair that cause it? Or is the pain a warning sign that you're damaging your follicles/hair? Does anyone know?

[kittengirl]

I don't know if it's harmful or not, but it gives me headaches so I generally do not wear styles that cause it. I"m really sensitive to things like that.

[AnqeIicDemise]

It really isn't harmful, honestly. At least I havent' noticed anything odd in either scalp nor hair after. It mostly means your hair is being manipulated in a way it is not used to and thus, it 'hurts'. I get this mainly when I switch parts (which I do on ocassion as I have a weird fear I'll develop baldness or thinning from wearing the same split over and over again) and the area kind of aches from the sudden change. It goes away after a bit.

But if you are concerned, make sure you're not making super tight buns. That's not good.

[browneyedsusan]

Yes, I've had it. It's common for us short-hairs! When I started growing, ONE teensy clip would give me a headache after 10 minutes! I thought something was wrong with me, and that I'd never be able to tolerate a ponytail. (The trouble was that I'd worn my hair short for a lot of years, and it wasn't used to having things stuck in it.) I just kept after it. Put it up for 10 minutes, take it down. Next day, put it up for 15 minutes, take it down. Day 3, put it up for 20 minutes, take it down. Eventually, I got so it didn't bother me for 1/2 a day, and now I can put it up all day, in almost any style I want.

I don't think the pain is harmful. It's just bothersome. Your follicles are stuck in a rut, and they like it that way! They protest when you move them around. If you prefer to power through, go for it! I couldn't handle the headaches, so babied my head along. It eventually came around to my way of thinking. Yours will too. :)

[lapushka]

I sometimes get it when my hair clip's positioned on my head a little odd or off. It's nothing to worry about, really. As a kid my mom always did piggy tails, and they hurt like hell! She would do them so tight that it actually hurt. And it would be the exact same thing the next day. I still have hair on my head. ;)

[Lissandria]

Does anyone notice follicular pain gets worse/occurs when you haven't washed your hair in a while?

[MaryMarx]

Lissandria; yes!! I rarely get scalp pain from how I wear my hair, but I'll get it when my hair needs to be washed.

[Kaelee]

Ugh, this drives me nuts. I have to keep redoing my hair until I get it EXACTLY RIGHT so that I don't feel it. Just because it drives me insane (I have OCD and sensory issues). :lol:

[meteor]

I used to have this pain / awkwardness all the time when I first started bunning my hair. I thought it was just because my hair is thick and feels heavy when loaded all around my scalp. But it went away after a few months.
I still get it if I pull my hair in unusual directions (e.g. new location for a bun, accent braids, etc)
I really hope it's not harmful, but I don't know.

[jacqueline101]

I've had it after I take my hair down when it was used to being up.

[Anje]

I've never noticed increased shedding when I get follicle pain. That said, it's probably important to stress that my instances of follicle pain are from putting my hair in an awkward position (high buns and crown braids are particularly bad culprits for me), not from too much tension on the hair. Styles that are too tight can also cause pain and will cause hairloss with time.

[Cristina84]

hi!
i feel this kind of pain, for the same reasons you allready wrote, and then when i have fever

[going gray]

Yes indeed, it actually hurt to wash my hair, always went back to normal.

[door72067]

Does anyone notice follicular pain gets worse/occurs when you haven't washed your hair in a while?


Lissandria; yes!! I rarely get scalp pain from how I wear my hair, but I'll get it when my hair needs to be washed.


I get this also! almost to the point of having an actual headache when I've pushed my wash just a bit too long (ie:, if Friday night would be when I "should" wash and I'm not going anywhere special over the weekend, I'll wait until Sunday night)

[kittengirl]

Ugh, this drives me nuts. I have to keep redoing my hair until I get it EXACTLY RIGHT so that I don't feel it. Just because it drives me insane (I have OCD and sensory issues). :lol:
You sound like me. I can tell if one hair is pulling in a braid or bun and I have to fix it until it doesn't hurt. I am extremely sensitive to noise, fabrics, anything touching me, and and hairs out of place, I guess!

[minxe]

I don't know if it's harmful, but I find it's best to avoid doing things that hurt... :shrug:

[faellen]

Ummmm.... weird question, but... does anyone else get follicle pain from their leg hairs (when not shaved)? Lol! :lol: Like if I've been wearing tighter trousers, when they come off I usually have sore leg hair follicles, hahaha

[Anabell]

I don't know if it's harmful, but I find it's best to avoid doing things that hurt... :shrug:
Well, the point is that it hurts only in the beginning I think. And if it isn't harmful, in the theory, you can make you follicle use to lay this way and then you can do more protective hairstyles, like a buns for example. I know a lot of girls that do their hairstyles very tight, even with long heavy hair and they don't feel any pain. I think that most of moms use to do the hair of their children very tight, so they just used to it or something. My mother always did my braid very loos (it get really messy of the end of the day. lol) so I didn't use to wear my hair tight (This is my crazy theory. Maybe I just have tender scalp... :()
But I'm not sure about the harmful thing. When it "hurts" because I switch the part I don't worry because I know it is harmless. But when I do buns I really not sure... I will follow this thread and see...

[embee]

I used to have this problem when I changed hair styles, from low ponytail to high topknot. But as my hair became longer I began using the high topknot *every night* for sleeping , with a lower bun in the daytime. Since that time I've not had any follicle pain whatsoever. I think it's what your skin and follicles are used to, a sort of muscle ache.

I did find that washing my hair would eliminate the pain pretty reliably.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I don't think it's harmful, just uncomfortable. When ever I get it (very rarely) I loosen my hair or change the style to relieve it. I hate follicle pain!

[Miss Catrina]

Mine definitely comes from unusual partings - never from excessive tension - so I won't worry too much...

[petali]

I think you have to be careful if you are wearing the same hairstyle every day that causes pain. This may cause alopecia.

[Naiadryade]

Does anyone notice follicular pain gets worse/occurs when you haven't washed your hair in a while?

Yup! I don't even have to put my hair up for it to happen. If I'm really overdue for a wash, the cowlick to the left of my crown aches. It's annoying so I end up playing with it, which just makes it worse. The only solution is to wash it. This is actually a big part of the reason I abandoned WO, and part of how I ended up at the LHC!


Ummmm.... weird question, but... does anyone else get follicle pain from their leg hairs (when not shaved)? Lol! :lol: Like if I've been wearing tighter trousers, when they come off I usually have sore leg hair follicles, hahaha

:laugh: Yes. I don't shave my legs, and I get this every time I take off knee-high socks. It's funny, I don't really notice it while the socks are on (except for the tight feeling of being bundled up). But when I take them off the hair follicles are sore, at the same time as the sudden relief from the slight pressure I've gotten used to over the course of the day. I actually really enjoy this moment!

[neko_kawaii]

Another one who experiences follicle pain when a wash is due. But crown braids and really high buns can set my scalp off right after a wash and then it will ache for days no matter what I do unless I wash it again.


Ummmm.... weird question, but... does anyone else get follicle pain from their leg hairs (when not shaved)? Lol! :lol: Like if I've been wearing tighter trousers, when they come off I usually have sore leg hair follicles, hahaha

Yep, and then scratching my legs feels so nice.

[Kaelee]

Ummmm.... weird question, but... does anyone else get follicle pain from their leg hairs (when not shaved)? Lol! :lol: Like if I've been wearing tighter trousers, when they come off I usually have sore leg hair follicles, hahaha

Oh yea. Knee socks can really hurt! Fortunately, my leg hair hasn't fallen out yet (if that's any indication of how the hairs on the head behave!) :lol:

[anitacs9101]

I get this too! Just yesterday actually. My scalp gets really tender when I wear top knots. It lingers for a while, for instance I wore a top knot yesterday for just a few hours and this morning I still had a few patches that were tender. I also get it sometimes when I'm sick, or at random times, usually in small patches. Not sure if the "random times" were when I hadn't washed in a while.