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The condition typically starts at the hairline, but in certain cases can begin on other parts of the head, like the back or the sides as it did for Okeke. \u201cIt’s a process that usually takes years,\u201d Dr. Day said. For Okeke, it took about four years before she began noticing the patches at the top of her hair in 2020. “I thought it wasn\u2019t a big deal at the time and that it would grow back,\u201d she says\u2014a thought many Black women have mistakenly believed.<\/p>\n
When Ashley Parker first noticed her edges becoming thin, she thought nothing of it either\u2014because she was instructed to. \u201cI was getting my hair done at the salon and they had just relaxed it and my edges were coming out in chunks,\u201d says Parker (who is using a pseudonym for this story). \u201cI was so worried but the hairdresser was like, ‘Don’t worry. It’ll grow back.’\u201d Just a few hours after getting the relaxer, Parker got box braids. The now 22-year-old architecture student had been getting braids since she was in boarding school in England, starting at aged 10. \u201cIt’s difficult to maintain your natural hair while you’re in boarding school so I would get my hair braided [in a style that lasted] for four weeks at a time,\u201d says Parker. When she removed the braids a few weeks after the appointment where her hair was falling out, she realized her edges had gone from thin to nonexistent.<\/p>\n
Traction alopecia can affect people of any ethnicity, but is most commonly seen in Black women. Up to a third of us will have the condition, according to a 2023 article published in the journal JAMA Dermatology.<\/em> While there\u2019s been a recent increase in information and awareness about TA among dermatologists and hairstylists, Black women dealing with the condition often do so in isolation with feelings of shame and helplessness that can\u2019t be improved in a doctor\u2019s office or with different hairstyles.<\/p>\n The thought of it at its worst (large patches of hair falling out) is terrifying to most, but the beginnings of traction alopecia (thinning edges) are almost universally Black. Crystal Aguh, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in Baltimore, says she believes most people are familiar with the concept of traction alopecia, even if they don\u2019t know the medical term for the condition.<\/p>\nThinning edges are not normal<\/h2>\n