Why do you think many of us have damaged sides?

[Amour]

I'm on a quest to find out why my left side is significantly more damaged than the right side.

I think it has something to do with the side you sleep on and after blowdrying i came to thinking it may be down to different hair textures.

So the questions that i pose are
What side do you sleep on? Is this your damage side?
and
Does you damage said have a different texture to your otherside?
I realised that my damaged side is harder to blow out and hold a curl in comparisonment to the more affluent side. I think my damage side may be 4a and my right side 4/b

 

[smitmarv]

I had the same problem after I was on bed rest for several months with 2nd pregnancy. I was told that I need to lay on my left side all the time so that my blood pressure would stay down. Needless to say the hair on the left side of my head was way shorter then the right side and was very damaged. Now I have a hard time staying out of the habbit of sleeping only on one side. I try to change it up for my hairs sake.

 

[simpleDIVA]

My hair is very thick but I have thin edges. I was looking at some pics of when I was younger and I didnt have any back then either. My thing is my hair was always braided so I guess thats what did it for me.

 

[p31woman]

My situation is a little different. My sides are damaged because I used to glue in my weaves in the front and sew them in the back so the front sides are thin and damaged because of that darn glue!

 

[Amour]

Thanks for the replies... keep the opinions etc coming. This is my mini -experiment - if i get a correlation; maybe I will be able to achieve my November - feburary goal

 

[Legend]

I answered "Other" for sleeping side, and "Yes" for the different texture. I know this is probably unusual, but I do not have a preferred sleeping side. Sometimes I sleep to either side, sometimes on my stomach, sometimes on my back....and often all of the above in the same night! Even more confusing, it is my crown that is more susceptible to damage, and I've certainly never slept on my head (that I know of)!!! I believe this is because I have a different hair type on my crown area (which has a deeper wave pattern and texture), and it is suseptible to breakage. My hair is pretty healthy overall, but I have to be much more careful the way I handle my crown area.

 

[lana]

When I was relaxed, my sides would be damaged due to overprocessing, no matter how long I stretched or if I was careful with the application or even went to a salon. My sides were fragile with a perm and they broke easily.

Now that I'm natural, my hair is thick and healthy and I don't have to worry about thin damaged sides or overprocessing. I sleep on one side, but my hair grows evenly all around. Going natural fixed my problem, but it's still as much work as being relaxed. Anyways that's what did it for me.

 

[angelita842002]

I sleep more on my left side and that side is a little dryer and my edges on the left side are also thinner than the right side. Its my daughters fault *sigh* shes 17 months and still sleeps in my bed so i always have to face her for some reason and thats on my left side. I need to kick her out for better hair health LOL!

 

[Angelicus]

Many people use brushes, relax hair in the front longer than other sections, wear braids too tight, heredity may not be be on their side, wear headbands... There are a LOT of variables.
Do you always start coming the left side of your hair first? Do you relax your left side first?

 

[tffy2004]

I have noticed that the left side of my hair grows slower than the right and my left edges are thinner on that side too. I had a habit of sleeping on my left side after both my pregnancys. As soon as I had my first child, I went in for my 6-week check up and found out I was pregnant again so in no time I was back to sleeping on my left side. Just recently I switched sides of the bed with my husband and I sleep on my right side now..

 

[bablou00]

Many people use brushes, relax hair in the front longer than other sections, wear braids too tight, heredity may not be be on their side, wear headbands... There are a LOT of variables.
Do you always start coming the left side of your hair first? Do you relax your left side first?

That is so true. My stylist told me that if I let any one relax my hair other than her to let them know what side she started on last and that they need to start on the opposite side. She said that could cause more to your hair w/o u realizing thats whats doing it. I always try to stay from wrapping my hair everyday. I love the straight look but I dont like thin edges. I put this in another thread that my dermatologist told me that I had mechanical acne because I sleep on one side, talk on the phone on one side and rest my head on that same side. Those are small things you should look out for and if u are pullin your hair too tight or always wearing the same style. Hope that helps

 

[locabouthair]

one time i got mine from overprocessed relaxer. and now i have it from heat damage.

 

[jaded_faerie]

my edges are scarce due to glued in weaves from 3 years ago! and heredity doesnt help much either

They are filling in...and i hope once fully natural they will be back to how they were when i was younger and relaxer free

 

[SweetCaramel1]

i sleep on my left side and it's much healthier and thicker than the rest of my hair. no breakage.

i'm trying an experiment to see if sleeping on my back will get my nape to grow

i'm not sure if the damaged sides are more hereditary. my mother and sister have very thin sides. my sister never wore wigs but my mother does often??? i notice that my daughters edges are thick but short. i believe this is due to braids and ponytails.

 

[caribeandiva]

my left side is shorter (not necessarily more damaged) than the right side. i thought wrapping my hair on the same side was causing it so i stopped but my hair still has a "tail" though.

 

[JustKiya]

I sleep on my right side almost always, and the left side of my hair is shorter than my right side....and I've figured out why.
1) The area where my hair is shorter, is a different texture - 4b, - than the rest of my 4a hair, and interestingly enough, only the DYED part of my hair has broken off. And of course, because it's a tighter curl than the rest of my hair - it shrinks more. I'm growing my hair out, and eventually will cut off all the dye, so I'm just living with that section beign shorter for now.

2) I ALWAYS drive with my windows down in warm weather, and wearing my hair out in a fro with the wind whipping through my hair REALLY hard on the left hand side caused my hair to split and break - it was like I was ripping a huge comb through my weaker exposed ends.
I haven't figured out how to handle this yet Maybe I could wear a big driving scarf? I would say that I could try to always be sure my hair's in a protective style when the windows are down - but that would have me in a protective style ALL SUMMER long. So I'm thinking that the driving scarf might be the best idea.

 

[Quinette]

I picked other.I sleep on my back with my head facing the right, but most of my damage is in the middle of my head. I figured it was because I would just go to sleep without protecting my hair so I started braiding it in one big braid at night, but that still didn't stop the breakage. I realized that while I was asleep my hair would fan out on my pillow and I would wake up in the morning with my hair the same way. Long story short I went searching for help and found this website and now I am forever thankful to all you ladies for sharing your wisdom and advice. My hair is doing so much better now.

 

[thefineprint]

I always figured most black women had thin edges because of all the extensions and braids that we wear, which damage the edges over time if they are too tight. also i think some women over process their edges and that has a lot to do with it too.

 

[fattyfatfat]

i sleep on my left side and thats the side that is damaged, shorter and thicker. it grows very uneven too. i try to sleep on my right side but i wake up on my left

 

[Ayeshia]

I think it has to do with the different hair textures that people have and almost all of us treat our has as if all strands are identical, when they are really not. I noticed that there's this one section of my hair that responds really well to grease and oil and laughs at moisturizing lotions and cremes. Where as the rest of my hair loves mositurizing creme and doesnt particularly like grease. If I hadnt discovered this soon I prolly would have had significant breakage in that area.

 

[Miss*Tress]

Which option should I check: Yes, No, Don't know? I sleep on my back and not always with my bonnet, so it's always more tangled than the rest and breaks more. As a result the back is about a 1/2 inch shorter than the sides.

 

[toniy]

I can bet that we will all have many different reasons why we have thin sides, but I for sure know why I do. My thin sides are the result of my being addicted to ponytails for many years. The job I have calls for neat no-nonsense hairstyles and i have found that ponys are very easy to do.

Before the boards, I was using a brush and any kind of gel (acohol,brown, green...)to gather it up and and make it very neat looking. I was slicking,brushing, and pulling. What did I expect?

I almost forgot, that bang I would put in the front of my head with glue...

It did look good though!

 

[CaraWalker]

when i had that problem it was because i was relaxed and wrapping to a certain side. i dont do either of those things anymore

 

[Poohbear]

My sides aren't damaged, but my edges around my temple area on both sides are thinner and shorter than the rest of my hair. I think it is from pulling my hair back into a bun, ponytail, or afro puff, not from laying my head down while I sleep.