Do Sew In Hair Extensions Damage Your Natural Hair?
We know that sew in hair extensions have been a popular protective hairstyle for a long time. There is no doubt that black women love to sew in as it can achieve the most natural look with virgin hair. And they like to wear different hairstyles. But several months ago, I watched a hot Youtube video, in which a lady shared her bad experience with sew in hair and how weaves severely damaged her hair. Yes, it is a horrible story. You start thinking about do sew in hair extensions damage your natural hair, will it stop your natural hair grow out or will it lead to the natural hair loss? It is something serious.
As a hairstylist with more than 10 year's experience, I can tell you the fact is that sew in weave definitely do not ruin your natural hair. It is possible for you to get both perfect weave hairstyles and healthy natural hair. The reason why you probably think that hair extensions take out natural hair is the wrong way you manipulate your hair. I'm going to explain in details as well as give you two tips or tricks on what to keep in mind if you are getting sew-in.
1. Sew in hair weave correctly
The first thing that I really want to mention is that you want to make sure that they're installed comfortably and correctly.
2. Never have a tight braid
What I mean by this is that when you're getting your braid pattern, braided down for your sew in hairstyle, you want to make sure that the braids are not tight. If the braids are tight, they're going to stay tight for a while until your hair starts to grow which is what will loosen the braids. You don't want to have tight braids because this often leads to traction alopecia.
Traction alopecia is not something that's triggered by your immune. It is triggered by outside forces that you're putting on your hair such as braiding too tight or twisting your hair too tightly. You really need to be careful and conscious about the things that are being put on your hair as well as how your hair extensions are actually installed into your hair.
Besides, as I stay in many of my other blogs, traction alopecia can be reversed but sometimes if it's repeatedly being placed of stress on your hair, this can lead to permanent hair loss and hair damage. So just make sure that when you have your hair braided underneath, it's not tight.
3. Say goodbye to cotton thread
And then when you're getting your extension stalled in, make sure that it's done at nylon thread. Cotton thread is the worst threat to use on sew in extensions. Some stylists don't know that thread actually matters. If you use cotton thread to sew on your extensions, it will create a lot of weak points along the areas of your hair because cotton is super absorbent. It can absorb to about 20 times its weight. So if you are using cotton thread to weave your extensions, any point where the thread is in contact with your real hair, will make it chronically dry and it will ultimately lead to hair damage as well as breakage. If someone is trying to use cotton thread on your hair, you want to make sure that they don't. It is very crucial to the health of your hair.
So number one keep in mind that you would make sure that when you are having your hair braided down, it's comfortable that you could move your head left right up and down without problems. Your extensions have been installed comfortably and correctly to make sure that the extensions are not taking out your hair.
4. Take care of your natural hair
The last and final thing that I want to give you as far as hair extensions are damaging your natural hair is that you have to take care of your real hair even though you're wearing the sew in hairstyle.
To do this you want to make sure that you're able to effectively shampoo wash your hair, co-wash your hair or conditioner wash your hair and apply moisture and water to your hair as needed. In order to do this, it's very good to have some applicator bottles that you can use to dilute your products. You want to use an applicator bottle for diluting your shampoo, one for your conditioner and other products that you're going to be using for your hair.
The reason why you have to dilute your hair products is so that the product is thin enough to reach your hair, wash your hair or condition your hair and to be effectively rinsed out. Most shampoos are pretty thick. If you were to just squeeze some shampoo onto your sew in, you're going to be washing our suds for days. So make sure that when you are applying the product to your hair, everything is a watery consistency so that you can effectively get the job done without leaving product build up on your hair.
Of course, sew in do not damage natural hair. What damages natural hair is the lack of knowledge. A lot of people struggle with wearing styles because they feel like every time they get their braids done or every time they get a sew in done, their hair is always breaking and falling out. You need to know about how to take care of your hair in the first place especially when you are wearing extensions. The one thing that I really highlighted is that when you are wearing hair extensions, you could still take care of your hair. The proper techniques to be put in place to make sure that you're keeping your real hair shampooed and conditioned and healthy as well as with wearing extensions.
I hope this question has helped you and help anyone else who's wondering because I know a lot of you are very afraid of wearing different types of styles. You feel like it's going to damage your natural hair. There's no fear to think about as far as it goes with hair extensions. You just want to make sure that there install correctly and you're still caring for your hair in the meantime.
I have natural hair and I always love wearing different styles of weave hair, straight hair weave, body wave hair, curly hair weave, etc. So don't be afraid. Just make sure you're ready and equipped to handle your hair even though it's in a sew in or any other protective style. JC Hair Factory is one of the best hair extensions wholesale suppliers in China for more than 15 years. If you have any inquiries and questions, please feel free to contact us directly. Welcome clients all around the world!