Continued Hair Loss due to Tight Braiding?

[Lisa W]

I went to the Bahamas on my honeymoon and had my hair braided (my entire head) at one of the local market stands. I left it in for less than a week but once I removed the braids, my hair started to fall out in large amounts. This isn't hair breakage but the entire hair, root and all. It has been almost eight weeks and the hair is still falling out (at last count approx 400 a day vs the normal 50-100)!

I have gone to a dermatologist twice. He diagnosed it as traction alopecia but felt it should have stopped falling out about a month ago! I've had blood workups done and my body chemistry is considered normal. He had no other suggestions as to why it is continuing to fall out.  I am treating my hair very gently (no pony tails or tight pulling of any kind!)  Before this, I constantly wore my hair pulled back in a pony tail and never experienced any hair loss problems.

I've been trying the Nioxin shampoo/conditioner which seems to help a little but would appreciate any other advice!! My hair is noticeably thinning and this is upsetting since I have very long hair (half way down my back). At approx 1/2" per month of growth, it will take almost five year to grow back what I've lost!! Any suggestions to slow/stop the hair loss?

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

I'm afraid I don't have much to add.  I will say, however, that when hair starts to fall out rapidly, the cause is usually trauma, as in your situation, or an irregularity in the body's rhythms, such as occurs after childbirth.  In either case, hair loss may be dramatic, but is temporary.  If you treat the hair gently and wait it out, you should be fine.  One episode of traction isn't going to cause permanent damage.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff