advice: is my ponytail killing my hair?

with limited access to hair salons, diy dye jobs and at-home haircuts have become wildly popular in quarantine. low-maintenance and beginner-friendly tutorials are exploding online, offering inexpensive solutions and hair treatments that use natural ingredients like rice water , avocado and olive oil to help repair, lengthen and lock moisture into our hair.

dr. cory torgerson, head and neck surgeon at the toronto hair transplant clinic suggests that wearing a ponytail or a baseball cap doesn’t cause breakage or thinning, but that hair loss can occur as a result of wearing tight braids and putting stress on the hair follicle.

if your ponytail is so tight that your face looks like it’s stretched, you might want to loosen it up a bit. a fuss-free, gently pulled-back hairstyle might be a better choice.

torgerson also says that too much stress on the hair follicle caused by repeated tension can lead to traction alopecia . caught early, this type of hair loss is reversible, but without an intervention, damage to tresses may be permanent.

but if you spot the early signs of traction alopecia, don’t panic. instead, treat your hair with a little tlc. forgo the ponytail and the baseball cap and let your hair down. you can also incorporate essential oils into your hair care routine. according to research, lavender oil has been shown to improve hair growth while rosemary oil may help improve thickness. one study suggests that peppermint essential oil could increase the number of hair follicles, depth and hair growth.

torgerson suggests non-surgical procedures and prescription medication that can block dht – a sex hormone that can kill the hair follicle — to help avoid future hair loss.

another option is a non-surgical procedure that uses an individual’s own blood to help heal injured cells, improve follicular function and stimulate hair growth called platelet-rich plasma (prp) therapy . low-level laser therapy — also referred to as cold laser therapy — is another minimally-invasive hair restoration option. this treatment releases light particles into the scalp, which are absorbed by weak cells to help encourage hair growth.

as for day-to-day hair care habits, know that overly processed hair — colour-treated, permed or relaxed — is especially prone to breakage . but even virgin hair is not immune to damage. the products you use and how you style your tresses can impact hair health, so it’s always a good idea to give your locks a break.