Are Ponytails bad??

[moeZy]

I like the look of a really high ponytail but I have seen mentioned that ponytails are bad. Is this true? I know too tight=bad. Or are they just bad to sleep in them?

[arcane]

Along with the tightness the ends of you hair isn't really protected by a ponytail and most people advocate protective hair styles. Personally I tie by hair back in a ponytail a lot and I do not have any hair loss nor are my ends worse for wear. Occasionally having your hair tied back in a high ponytail should not hurt it.

[Laylah]

If you wear anything hairstyle too tight or too often it will break your hair where the tension is. In a ponytail it would be around the band, of course. The skinnier the band, the worse. A thick hair tie is good and a scrunchie is even better. As long as you don't wear ponytails all day, everyday, it should be fine. If you've been wearing a ponytail for a while and you don't notice any damage then you must be doing something right! I'm not a fan of ponytails myself because low ones look weird on me and high ones hurt my scalp... but to each his own.

[lunalocks]

I am currently growing out ponytail damage (it is really not that bad, but i know it is there). I always used a scrunchie for a pony, believing that the smooth fabric protected my hair. Then I began a vigorous exercise routine several times a week and had my hair in a pony. With the activity, the scrunchie would slightly loosen. I would have to tighten it repeatedly. The constant tightening damaged my hair, as well and the stress from the movement. Now I have it in a braid and move the scrunchie to a different place every time (no need for tightening) but usually wear a secure bun, with spin pins.

After 6 months, I now, very occasionally, wear a pony.

[Babyfine]

I was told by my last hairstylist that ponytails worn often are damaging even with scrunchies. She suggest that I wear my hair in a cinnibun or french twist held with u shaped pins or a hair- friendly beak clip. She also said that when I do wear ponies to vary the position of the pony on my head to avoid damage of the same hair being pulled in the same position over and over.
I like my hair pulled back in a low pony but those don't do much to protect the fragile ends. I rarely wear pony's now.

[torrilin]

Any style can be damaging if you wear it very tightly, in the same spot on your head, and every day.

Ponytails aren't any more or less problematic than anything else in the abstract. But they're often the first "updo" a longhaired person learns. They're very easy to do. They hold better when they're tight. They often look better or are more comfortable in the same spot on your head every day (or worse, both). And once a person realizes how nice it is to have hair out of their face, it's very tempting to do a ponytail every day.

Voila. Breakage.

I've never had a breakage problem with ponytails, but my hair is really fine. I've had it drilled into me that I can't wear the same style in the same spot day after day without breakage. My hair seriously will break if I look at it funny. So... I never did day in and day out ponytails in the same spot. Even when it's the only style I can do, it gets moved around. And the moment I can add in other styles, I do. Once you have about 3 styles to swap around, you should be safe from breakage, since that's the rotation I've always used. With hair in the shoulder to APL range, I can do a ponytail, a cinnabun and an English braid. But the exact rotation doesn't matter much, just as long as you do make sure to rotate your styles and do it often.

[Sammich]

I like ponytails.

I also like braids, they are more protective imo, but if you want to wear a ponytail, I say go for it.

What's more important is to enjoy the growing process.

[Kittyxx]

The hair elastics with metal used to kill my hair - but most places sell the snag free versions now so if you can get hold of them they'd be better

[jacqueline101]

Its the tightness of it and the fact your ends aren't protected.

[Valfreyja]

Once in a while I think their perfectly fine. Just not if they're done consistently, that's all. I try to avoid them these days and do just french twists or braids and try to keep learning new updos as much as possible. Ponytails are especially tempting for people with shorter hair because there isn't a great variety of things you can do, but it comes with time.

[EmiliaF]

My only problem with ponytails is that my hair is very heavy and I get a very mild form of traction alopecia near my temples. Since I don't want to look like a middle-aged man (no offense), I don't wear my hair in a ponytail too much. Hairsticks and braids distribute the weight of the hair much better, so those are my do's of choice. ;)

[Madora]

Ponytails - if used in moderation - aren't bad. Personally, I keep away from them as they engender snarls like no tomorrow.

If you use ponytails every day and place them in the same area, eventually the hair in that spot will break. Also, if you make tight ponytails, the tension you place on the delicate frontal hairs can lead to traction alopecia.

I certainly don't believe in ponytails worn for sleep. Your follicles should rest at night.

[PrincessIdril]

I think it depends on your hair type.
I spent about 6 years wearing ponytails everyday and I have a lot of fly-aways. but for the last 4 years I've been wearing mostly braids and buns with the occasional pony and the fly-away situation hasn't improved that much tbh.

My mum on the other hand, has waist length hair and has been wearing a pony everyday for 10 years(?) with the occasional braid thrown in, but mostly ponys. And her hair is fine. Her ends aren't dry and she doesn't have many flyaways either. She has pretty straight hair, medium thickness and its very thin (due to her medication)
So I think it has a lot to do with what your hair type is and what you've been doing with it when you wash etc.

[Ocelan]

I have noticed breakage from ponytails from my before LHC days. I was pretty unimaginative then and when I didn't wear my hair down, I almost always wore it in a ponytail. So especially when I've just washed and dried my hair, the broken hair ends stick up and show as a patch in the back of my head.
After joining LHC I've only worn my hair in a ponytail maybe twice, so I can't wait to grow off that breakage. So I do still wear my hair in a ponytail, but only every now and then.

[heidi w.]

In my opinion, yes.

A ponytail will keep hair out of your face, but that is all it does. The hair is still essentially loose, and if long enough, likely swinging against a top that has fabric that isn't that great. And there's the problem of binding the hair in pretty much the same spot each day which can, over time, produce a line of demarcation. If you position the bind for tying up the ponytail in the same spot it can form a thinning area around the circumference of your hair, that over time, can become visible, as in quite a number of month's of time. The hair is still subject to getting caught in things, still in the wind and whatnot. I think it's ok to wear a ponytail once-in-a-while, but when your hair becomes longer, it gets heavier, and wearing it high up can be very difficult. The high-up ponytail tends to pull scalp hair a bit too much. Mine won't stay up high all day, it's so heavy now. It's been a few years since I've worn a ponytail. I would not recommend this for sleep even. A ponytail is not an updo, in my opinion.

heidi w.

[Taenarian]

A ponytail is all I wore for years, and I stopped for all the reasons previous posters listed. It's still an occasional option but never more than a couple hours.

[moeZy]

Thanks for all of the replies. It does make sense repetition would be bad. I am still learning! I had slightly below BSL years ago but I did not know much about long hair care then. I am teaching myself the ways now because I would like to reach waist (possibly hip?). I am now between APL and BSL.

[pepperminttea]

moeZy, you might find this article (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=79) interesting. :) It talks about the structure of hair, and the cuticles that protect the cortex; kind of like scales, or roof tiles that overlap each other. You know that movement of tightening a ponytail - essentially taking two halves of it and tugging them apart to force the band closer to the scalp? With that movement you're pushing the hair tie against the direction the cuticle lays; doing that several times a day, the repetition adds up. That's what normally gets me with ponytail damage (besides the tangling of the loose hair), assuming you're using safe hair ties.

But weigh the damage risk against your personal preferences. If you're not growing to very long lengths, a little damage here and there isn't much of a worry, and if you really enjoy wearing your hair like that, it might well be worth it for you. :) I do love the feeling of a high ponytail swinging! :D

[melusine963]

Back when I wore a ponytail all day, ever day, in exactly the same place, I had a ring of broken hair and split ends just there. So now I try to avoid that and only use elastics near the ends of my hair where any damage will be trimmed off before too long.

[lilliemer]

Back when I wore a ponytail all day, ever day, in exactly the same place, I had a ring of broken hair and split ends just there. So now I try to avoid that and only use elastics near the ends of my hair where any damage will be trimmed off before too long.

This observation is right on.

I used to wear a ponytail at the crown of my head. Every. Single. Day. I would start out the day with my hair down (after heat-straightening wavy hair of course) then get tired of the way it looked down and drag it up and into an elastic. I had shoulder-length hair at the time, and I hated the feeling of a low pony tail with the end at the back of my neck (gave me the chills every time I turned my head), so up to the top of my head it went, often in this pathetic little chignon because the ends were so fried and frizzy. I couldn't figure out why my hair kept breaking off about eight inches down. Doing this even seemed to change the texture of my hair, there is still a patch at the crown where it is much coarser and more porous and fragile. This habit established a vicious cycle where my hair looked damaged, dry, and frizzy, so I kept putting it up (in the same place every day), which created more damage, which "forced" me to keep putting it up...

I have not heat-styled my hair (with the exception of a few times a year at the salon) in over a year. I have gradually phased out the high-and-tight ponytail but giving it up has been tough! It was my go-to hair style for when my hair was out of control. I've been trying to protect it better with braids and buns but sometimes that ponytail just calls to me! Now I have a line of split ends that is slowly marching down the length of my hair. It seems to be getting better but the damage is still quite apparent...I wish I had figured this out earlier, I would be much farther along to my goal of long hair but I guess it is better late than never.

[EdG]

I wore a ponytail in the early 1990s. I stopped because the tie would leave a crimp in my hair.

A loose ponytail is probably not damaging.
Ed

[catamonica]

When the weather gets hot & you want to wear it down, ponytails are great. I think it would not be good to wear a ponytail all the time. The ponytail band would thin the hair where it is
tight.

[Garnetgem]

Occasional wearing of a pony tail is fine as long as you give your hair/scalp a break from it,wearing them too often or too tight can lead to traction alopecia so tend to not wear them often now due to the weight of my hair.

[Groovy Granny]

I use soft scrunchies and ties with no damage..... my hair is fine silver.
The firmer cloth ties are infrequently needed for some updos needing a secure hold (topsy tails and some braids), but those only leave a mark that is easily covered by braids or half ups....but again no damage.
Most of the time I have a loose nape ponytail; high ponies give me headaches because I have a sensitive scalp.

[lapis_lazuli]

It all comes down to tightness and frequency in my mind. Be wary of that and I think ponytails are fine :)

[Priska]

I don't know why but nowadays when i make a ponytail, i always feel individual hairs pulling tight on top of my head. And when the ponytail is hanging i feel this pressure and pulling... I try to fix ponytail looser on that area but then some new hairs are pulling and this takes far too long. I'd like to feel the pulling rather on my neck area or on sides of my head, because my hair feels somehow stronger on those areas. So i guess the high bun is better idea for me, but the easiest option for me is to keep my hair open. Yeah and claw clips are merciful if they are good and suitable, but not all of them are... (And usually they are too little) I wish i knew what to do with this pulling hairs effect!

[Lady Winchester]

Absolutely not! I always wear my hair back in a ponytail, and I haven't seen any damage. Of course I wear them gathered at the nape of my neck with the elastic only doubled over once (even if it's wearing out) so it's not that terribly tight, either. The high ponytails might be a bit more damaging, since it's pulling on the hair more that if you wear it gathered at the nape of your neck (since this style is probably still considered "down" rather than "up", it's just pulled back, to keep it out of your face). I used to secure my low ponytails with a big barrette, but the dollar store I bought them from might have closed down, and since I couldn't find a decent replacement, I just switched to either covered elastics or the occasional scrunchie.

[MusicalSpoons]

Definitely. If you've tied it tightly that almost certainly will cause breakage over time, and with the lengths and ends not at all protected from friction and mechanical damage you may as well be wearing it down. They are not protective at all. So probably fine occasionally, unless your hair is particularly fragile, but useless as a frequent style.

[cadaverinna]

I only wear it as an actual "going out" hairstyle, like that Barbie pony or low and sleek, not as a protective one. Even when I'm in a hurry just to get my hair out of my face I'll put it in a bun rather than a ponytail, keeps the lengths and ends secure, plus, after a certain lenght, even if you put it up in a pony, it's still down.

[ExpectoPatronum]

I think it depends on frequency and how tight you wear it. I love ponytails - it's just easiest, but I do try to switch it up. I also think if your hair is short, they're more 'protective' than they are for people with longer hair. At one time, a ponytail kept my hair out of the way but now that I have longer hair, it still gets caught in bag straps and chairs even in a high ponytail.

[stardust lady]

Yet another reason I'm jealous of those with thinner hair is the ability to wear a high ponytail - with very thick and heavy hair it just pulls so hard and causes traction alopecia along the hairline. I would say it probably depends on the person - lots of people seem to wear them without issue. I'm definitely not one of them but I think they look good.