Fine hair after removal of hair extensions
Question: I asked a stylist to put on metal banded hair extensions. My hair is fine, but I had long before the extensions. After my extensions were removed, my hair is REALLY thin. Can you tell me why this happened and what should I do about it?
Answer: I am sorry that you have problems with the look of your hair after extensions. We frequently receive emails from people who have very similar problems. Even though you know you are not alone, it still makes you feel bad.
However, I am not a professional cosmetologist and cannot offer a professional opinion. However, I have done extensive research on hair extensions and can give you tips and advice that I have come across over the years. Of course, this information is used at your own risk.
There are several reasons why your hair seems to look very thin after removing your hair extensions.
1. Normal hair loss every day is 100 to 150 strands of hair. When you have hair extensions attached to your normal hair, this hair still falls out, but it remains attached to the hair extension. This leaves less of your natural hair holding the extension in place. If you leave the extensions in too long, or your hair is brittle, then the weight of the extensions in the hair can actually pull the natural hair out along with the extensions, causing very fine hair or even permanent hair loss. Did you lose a lot of extensions when using them? And how long did you wear the extensions in your hair?
2. Perception – After having beautiful thick hair for a while, you get used to it. When they are removed, your hair looks super thin. Do you remember the thickness of your ponytail before the hair extensions were placed? I mean, it was the size of a quarter.
3. Your stylist did not remove them properly. Most of the damage occurs during the removal process. Did you check your stylist (i.e. call references, before / after photos, etc.)
Solutions to regain the shape of your hair.
1. Treat your hair very carefully. Try not to do any chemical processing like perms, color, highlights.
2. Switch to a thickening shampoo / conditioner. Some shampoos / conditioners that I have heard (on various forums) that are good are the ones from Nioxin and Aveda Hair Thickening Shampoo. My husband has a hair loss problem and I asked him for the Nioxin system. Makes your hair look healthier and thicker.
3. Start taking specific vitamins for your hair. I know that Nioxin has vitamins that I have heard are fine. Your GP may be able to recommend vitamins for your hair and you may want to ask or search the internet for other vitamins.
Future hair extensions?
If you had human hair extensions, your hair might be too brittle to support the extra weight of human hair. Maybe you should try synthetic hair extensions. Synthetic hair weighs about 1/3 the weight of human hair and is much softer on your natural hair. Synthetic hair today resembles natural hair and is less expensive than human hair extensions. Check out these methods: http://www.prohair.us, http://www.domecosmetics.com
Finally, there is a Hair Extensions forum at HairBoutique.com. You can browse and read posts related to people with the same problems you have, or even create a post yourself. Many professionals visit the forum and offer advice. Go to http://talk.hairboutique.com and scroll down to “Hair Extensions”.
Finally, for additional information on other hair extension methods, check out our new site, http://www.hrhairextensions.com. You can read several full chapters of our # 1 selling e-book on hair extensions.