What Is Traction Alopecia?

 Alopecia is simply a scientific term for “hair loss”. Traction Alopecia is hair loss caused by tension placed on the hair.

      Traction alopecia is a common cause of hair loss and has been traced to modern practices that include braiding and weaving, and the placement of hair extensions, and is seen both in children and adults.

      What happens is that the tension placed on the scalp due to these styling techniques (and often the added tension caused by the weight of extension hair) irritates the scalp and the hair follicles which are being pulled upon. This causes the hair to loosen from its follicular roots, but is only a secondary issue. The big concern here is the inflammation caused by the irritation of the follicles from the chronic tension. The follicles can become atrophied and damaged to the point where they will no longer produce terminal (the longer, thicker and darker) hair. When caught early, this type of hair loss is reversible, but prolonged traction can and will cause permanent loss of hair in the affected areas.

      The most common areas affected by traction alopecia are the forehead and temple regions, which are generally the areas that receive the most stress from the aforementioned styles. 
Is there a cure?
If the bad styling habits are swapped in time for better ones then the scalp may get better on its own in time but there are also a number of products/drug treatments available to help speed up recovery from the damage. However it may take some time to see any results if any at all. 
If you’re willing to cough up some cash then permanent hair loss can be treated with hair transplants although this cannot prevent another hair loss if the same hair styles that caused it in the first place are continued to be used.
If you are suffering from the symptoms of Traction Alopecia then change your hair style now if you do not want to lose anymore hair permanently.
Changing bad habits

• If you wear small tight braids/plaits then loosen them up and do them larger.

• If you wear tight weaves exchange a tight weave for a wig instead or just let your hair be as it is.

• If you wear locs then avoid pulling these too tight or redoing them too tightly. If you are considering locs-ing up then go for medium sized locs instead of really large ones.

• Loosen up your hair bands and avoid daily use of headbands that are very tight.

References: http://www.powertotheafro.com                      http://www.hairfinder.com