Headaches from wearing hair up?

[ickle_cat]

Hi All!

I've been wearing my hair up to try and avoid mechanical damage, and I've noticed that now it is longer, it's heavier and sometimes gives me headaches when it's in an up-do. I don't get it in low ponytails and I don't get it if I've only had my hair up for a short period of time, but I had it up in a crown braid today and it ended up making my head hurt pretty badly.

Is there anything I can do to get my head used to up-dos or are there any other styles less prone to causing headaches?

Thanks!

[endlessly]

I'm in the same boat as you! People tend to have very different pressure points on their scalps, so for example, whenever I wear my hair in a bun, I get a horrendous headache and pretty severe scalp pain whereas someone else might not be affected at all. Readjusting your hairstyle can help - try to avoid wearing similar styles every day, but also give yourself a mini scalp massage to help alleviate some of that pressure and stimulate blood flow. Sometimes, it's just a matter of forcing yourself to get used to a style in order for it to feel more comfortable, but it can take time. If you're having very severe pain, I would suggest to stop using that hairstyle because you definitely don't want to cause unnecessary damage.

[Lauraes]

I also get headaches if my hair styles are too tight, so I'm going to tell you the styles that work for me. I saw you wrote that low ponytails are okay. What I do sometimes is make a loose low ponytail (wrap a stretched out/big hair tie only twice around my hair), and then put the ponytail into a bun. I don't think a regular bun (just twisting and wrapping the hair around in a loop) looks weird low on the head; I like it. You can use u pins, bobby pins, whatever you like to hold it up that won't add more weight to your hair. Or you could split a low ponytail into two sections, braid the length of each section and tie them off with tiny hair ties/elastic, and then wrap one section around clockwise and the other counterclockwise to make a braided bun that's still pretty light but will stay in better than a regular bun (at least for me).

Braids contain my hair better than ponytails and don't tangle, so maybe you could do those to prevent damage? A regular english braid, a dutch braid, or a french braid shouldn't be painful and they're fairly protective. Or you could keep your hair in a low ponytail and just braid it. I hope you're able to figure something out that works for you. :)

[Anje]

Well, crown braids really get me that way, more so than just about any other updo. For me, it's not so much a headache but a follicle or scalp ache (which might turn into a headache eventually, I suppose). With the crown braid, the major reason for me is having hair pointing a different direction than normal -- it's going UP instead of down on one side of my head! It doesn't even get better when I take it down, either; washing the hair seems the only thing that re-sets it, and sometimes even that doesn't fix it. To a lesser extent, high buns do this to me too, especially when they're sitting on top of my head.

Supposedly, you can train your scalp not to fuss about these things so much by doing the offending updo frequently and for gradually increasing periods of time. If doing a normal-height bun causes those problems, retraining the scalp is probably a good idea. Since my problems are only from styles that I really don't do frequently and have no interest in doing often, I ignore the problem. :shrug:

[Islandgrrl]

I wear my hair up every day and I rarely get headaches from it. On the rare occasion that I do end up with a headache, it's because my updo is either not well balanced or it's not secured well enough. For example, if I try to wear any kind of bun with a single Ficcare, I end up with a headache after not to terribly long. But if I balance it out with two Ficcare, it's fine, even with the added weight from the hairclips. A bun placed too low on my head will make my head ache, but buns placed higher up toward the crown do not.

Also, something to think about is that an updo without enough support is likely to contribute to discomfort, either from pulling or weight of hair + hairtoys. Depending on the type of bun, it might be necessary to add support in the form of spin pins or U-pins during the process of bunning: secure the first coil of a cinnamon bun before you wrap the rest. Styles that are flatter to the head tend to be more comfortable, but only if they are not sagging under their own weight. This is why I don't wear crown or heidi braids: I hate bobby pins, so the braids tend to shift and sag, then they pull and give me a headache. Consider the size of the hairtoy, too. Smaller hairtoys, whether they are Ficcare, sticks or forks, may not have enough substance to adequately and comfortably hold the hair you have. I can do a center held bun with a single large Ficcare, but ohmygosh, it's not comfortable. I can use standard sized chopsticks, too, but I end up with a headache because of sagging and pulling. Give me a pair of fatty Ead sticks and I can wear the same updo all day without discomfort. Clearly there are several things to think about.

Bottom line? Very long, thick hair can be successfully worn up comfortably if the updo has a good foundation and is well secured with appropriately sized hairtoys.

[Akville]

I do get this problem them my hair is dirty and greasy... I can barely have any pulling, tight hair style if hair is greasy... it such a stupid thing... right???

Because you want you hair down when its clean and you want your hair up when its greasy...
RIGHT???

scalp massages with scalp serum helps me... if it doesn't the I just go ahead and wash my hair...

[gwenalyn]

Not an answer to your question, but since you are also a straight hair, I suggest not relying as much on updos for protection. Do you tangle easily when it's down? I personally get a lot more tangles and damage (from detangling) with braids and updos than if I just leave it be. Now, I've found a happy medium: I only braid and updo when my hair starts looking oily. Protective styles are really encouraged here at LHC, but I think if your hair doesn't tangle easily, and especially if updos hurt, you get a lot more flexibility in how you style.

[ickle_cat]

Wow, thanks for all the replies!
I don't think the issue here is the hair going up the wrong way (I sometimes wear high buns on the crown) so the difference wasn't that severe. I know exactly the follicle pain you're talking about and it definitely wasn't that today.

I think the point about it not being anchored enough for the style might have been the culprit. I used bobby pins, but I only used a couple and when it came to taking them out, I realised that some of them had only been holding the dutch braid section and not the free end of the braid, essentially doing nothing! I did this style a little while ago and it was fine, so I assumed the issue was the added weight of the growth.

Great ideas about doing low braids and buns, I never think of the low bun as a protective style as it tends to be something I do when my hair is down and bothering me (should remember what comes naturally!).

I'll definitely also try some more flat styles, I found I got discomfort from having a wider style when driving as the head-rest was making my shoulders uncomfortable.

Thanks for all the help!

[neko_kawaii]

I do get this problem them my hair is dirty and greasy... I can barely have any pulling, tight hair style if hair is greasy... it such a stupid thing... right???

Because you want you hair down when its clean and you want your hair up when its greasy...
RIGHT???

scalp massages with scalp serum helps me... if it doesn't the I just go ahead and wash my hair...

I also notice much more scalp ache if my hair needs a wash. And like Anje said, scalp ache can turn into a headache if not addressed.

I also have more issues with scalp ache from updos when I wear my hair up constantly. I tried bunning my hair for sleep for a few months but stopped when I scalp started to hurt any time I put my hair up. Now I use a sleep cap and have no issues bunning my hair during the day (until it needs to be washed). Crown braids and other styles that pull the folicles in unfamiliar directions are right out.

I'd say experiment with a variety of styles and for daily use stick to the ones that give you least troubles.

[lapushka]

You're a iii, so if you're wearing buns and you're not waist/hip yet, then you're pulling them too tightly. Trust me on that. I was only able to wear buns at waist/hip and my go-to style up until that was a peacock twist (folded as the hair grew longer) with a claw clip.

[MicheleZ]

It might be the hair toy too. I have APL length hair - very straight about a 2.5 inch pony tail but I'm able to wear lazy wrap and regular buns with "tusks" from GTS. Those hold like nobody's business and you do NOT have to wrap tight. In fact, if you wrap too tight with a tusk, it won't work well.

[Hurven]

I have the same problem if I'm wearing my hair in a hair donut for more than a few hours. For some reason, every other up-do I've tried have been very comfortable to wear, it's only the hair donut that gives me headaches. I don't know what causes the headaches, though. Maybe pulling the hair too tight? Or maybe the hair is too thick for up-do's?

[lapushka]

I have the same problem if I'm wearing my hair in a hair donut for more than a few hours. For some reason, every other up-do I've tried have been very comfortable to wear, it's only the hair donut that gives me headaches. I don't know what causes the headaches, though. Maybe pulling the hair too tight? Or maybe the hair is too thick for up-do's?

Try a peacock twist. That's how I managed to get all the way to waist/hip, where buns where starting to be manageable for me.

[Hurven]

Try a peacock twist. That's how I managed to get all the way to waist/hip, where buns where starting to be manageable for me.
Thanks for the suggestion! I will definitely try it! :D

[meteor]

When I first joined the LHC and started putting hair up for the first time, I had scalp pains for a month or two! It took a while for my scalp to adjust, but it did adjust. I'd recommend keeping hair in an updo for as long as you are not getting any discomfort (say, half an hour), then taking hair down to massage a bit or change it to a braid - over time, one is able to stretch the time hair is kept in a bun until a whole day. But yeah, it might take a while.

Even now, I can have scalp pain problem when:

1) I try a new style - especially with new location of the bun and new direction in which hair is being pulled. So crown braids would definitely cause that because there is a lot of sectioning involved, so hair follicles are pulled in unusual ways with every braid "pass". Over time, this discomfort should go away.

2) When hair is due to be washed - the grease that accumulates at the roots sort of pulls on hair... it's hard to describe, but I've seen many other people also reporting that they know when to wash hair because their scalp starts hurting a bit.


I have the same problem if I'm wearing my hair in a hair donut for more than a few hours. For some reason, every other up-do I've tried have been very comfortable to wear, it's only the hair donut that gives me headaches. I don't know what causes the headaches, though. Maybe pulling the hair too tight? Or maybe the hair is too thick for up-do's?

Hair donuts add quite a bit of weight (especially, if one uses an actual sock for the sock bun), so it's not that unusual to have a headache from that. The same applies to updos that use paranda/scarf, by the way - it's not uncommon to get a slightly uncomfortable scalp after a few hours. Try a different bun. ;)

[EdG]

My experience is that headaches are caused by a small number of hairs being pulled too strongly. If that happens, I redo the bun. Sometimes a tangle can cause pulling.
Ed

[dreamer152]

I get the same pains from putting my hair up. For me it is the style isn't secure enough. Such as when I put it in a higher pony tail with an elastic, my hair is too thick and heavy which pulls it all down giving me a headaches