Damage from buns?

[Rheia Althia]

I did a search on the forum and I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for so I decided to start a new thread.

A few months ago I stopped using a scrunchie to start my updos to tone down on the breakage from having it pulled back. I also stopped wearing it in a braid down my back during work after I learned how much friction it was getting on the back of my chair.

My question is, am I still damaging my hair from twisting it into low buns, braiding into lower buns and securings with a stick or Ficcare? If I wear a bun any higher then center back it pulls on my scalp which I heard can actually cause bald spots over long periods of time. For the most part I put it in a nape bun or center back, and I make sure it isn't too tight or pulling on my scalp.

What do you all think?

[pogo0685]

I think you are doing less damage by doing buns with sticks instead of any sort of band, I love hairsticks and claw clips, no hair comes out with them, with any sort of band I get so much hair out of them when I take them out. I don't really know if that helps but thats my opinion.

[Raederle]

Unless you're twisting your hair really tightly, or handling it roughly, it's hard to think that updos are doing damage. What do you do with your hair at night?

[MusingFrog]

I personally think there is always some damage associated with every method of containing hair. Some methods do a better job of not being damaging than others. Securing your hair the way you are describing sounds about as good as it can get. Generally, if you aren't securing tight, the hair feels comfortable, and you aren't breaking the hair inserting the hair toys you should be fine. The only other thing I could think of for you to do would be to very the direction of the twist for buns.

[Rheia Althia]

Thanks guys.
My hair doesn't have any noticeable damage so perhaps I'm just being paranoid. I never make them tight or anything and I sleep with my hair in a braid on a satin pillowcase at night.

Maybe I should stop being obsessive about my hair...
Right...

[CalamityCupcake]

I prefer claw clips because they're quite easy to apply and remove, plus some of them can be really pretty! But my hair is in a scrunchy right now :O because it's a really pretty scrunchy!

[Ursula]

In my experience, there is less damage from hair being up than from hair being down. If it is loose, you have more tangles, friction from the back of your chair, and a general chance of getting caught on things.

You may notice more hairs coming out when you comb out an updo, versus when it is loose all day. That's because an updo holds any shed hairs in place, so they all come out at once when you comb it out. With loose hair, they fall away during the day, one by one, and so aren't noticed. So seeing more shed hairs does not indicate any damage.

About the only tool I deliberately avoid is elastics with metal fasteners. Most clips (such as claw clips and ficcares) are too small for my hair, so I can't really comment on how they work. But (well made) sticks, forks, flexi-8 clips, no-metal elastics and scrunchies all seem safe to me.

[Leisha]

I think I have noticed some damage on my hair from wearing my hair in the same bun every day (and actually every night too :lol: ). I think I have some breakage around the top/back of my head (I've temporarily forgotten the word for that place - is it the crown?? :o) because that's where my bun sits (and where the hair is coiled/twisted).

But I agree with cscheck, there will probably always be some damage. So I don't worry about it too much.

[anna1850]

I used to get a bit of breakage when I put my hair into a bun but started by tieing it with a hair band before bunning it. Without one I think the damage is much less.

Whatever you do, there'll be some tiny amount of damage but I think bunning is supposed to be relatively safe.