Advice please - is my hair ruined forever after extensions?

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SE16girl

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Hello,

I need some advice please as I’m in a bit of a panic. Having tried to grow my hair for years, I took the plunge in getting 150g microweave extensions last July. I loved them and was v happy. I had a refits every 8 weeks and was told everything was looking good.

I got a new longer set put in this week and saw my natural hair for the first time in 7 months. I was so shocked at how thin it felt. My hair is naturally very fine but I’ve always had enough of it that it looked normal and not thin. The ends were wispy and when I gathered it up for a pony tail it was a sad wispy mess =(

Now I know it wasn’t at its best at that moment having just been ‘released’ from the extensions and I was prepared for it to not look amazing but I’m now concerned when I do go back to my natural hair that it’s going to be thin and straggly forever. I wanted to wear this set for as much of this year as possible but instead of enjoying how lovely my extensions look I’m wondering if that’s going to make it worse.

My hairdresser knows her stuff and has a lot of clients - she says she’s not concerned and that it will look better with a wash and cut when I go back to normal. Looking at my before photo from the first set just makes me want to cry though, I really hope I haven’t ruined my hair.

Is this normal and am I right in thinking I can get it back to how it was with some TLC and a shorter cut when I’m ready to go natural again?
 
This is a very common worry when clients with fine density hair wear hair extensions for any length of time.
Hair is constantly growing and shedding as part of its normal growth cycle. We all shed around 100 hairs a day naturally, but you don’t really notice it because you’ve got around 100,000 hairs on your head.
However, when you’re wearing extensions, the hair that’s attached to the extension doesn’t always fall completely out but stays attached so when the extensions are finally removed, your hair that has already come out of the scalp comes away with the extensions.
You’ve been wearing extensions for several months now and you’ve got used to how much thicker and fuller your hair feels and you’ve forgotten what your hair was like before, especially if you don’t cut the split ends off regularly.

The only time to feel concerned is if you develop a condition called traction alopecia. This is where bald spots develop usually around the hair line and is often the result of extensions being too tight and literally pulling the hair out from the roots. A good extensionist will spot this condition before it develops into something more serious.
 
This is a very common worry when clients with fine density hair wear hair extensions for any length of time.
Hair is constantly growing and shedding as part of its normal growth cycle. We all shed around 100 hairs a day naturally, but you don’t really notice it because you’ve got around 100,000 hairs on your head.
However, when you’re wearing extensions, the hair that’s attached to the extension doesn’t always fall completely out but stays attached so when the extensions are finally removed, your hair that has already come out of the scalp comes away with the extensions.
You’ve been wearing extensions for several months now and you’ve got used to how much thicker and fuller your hair feels and you’ve forgotten what your hair was like before, especially if you don’t cut the split ends off regularly.

The only time to feel concerned is if you develop a condition called traction alopecia. This is where bald spots develop usually around the hair line and is often the result of extensions being too tight and literally pulling the hair out from the roots. A good extensionist will spot this condition before it develops into something more serious.

Hi there, thanks so much for your reply. My fear is that is would be forever damaged - but as you mention, I do trust my hairdresser has been careful in looking for any bald spots and she says my hair is in good condition and she has no worries. While I don't think it looks like it is in good condition due to how straggly it looked, I trust that she means she is really referring to the scalp and that's as you're saying above, the most important bit!

I was worrying last night that I should just have them taken out, but as long as there is no sign of traction alopecia then I will carry on wearing them and be prepared for a shorter chop when I get them taken out so I can encourage it to grow healthily again. I accept also it is going to feel thinner after wearing such luscious locks, but I do know from the first before photo my hair is definitely thinner than it was before I had extensions so that's just the main cause of worry.

I was thinking of taking some hair vitamins or using some products to encourage my growth underneath in the meantime - if anyone has any recommendations I'd love to hear them.
 

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