How to Grow Your Edges Back
Your thinning hairline is living on the edge — and it’s not a good look. It’s thinning. It's breaking. (It may even be shedding.) And to make matters worse, there’s no natural way to hide your edgy situation. But don’t panic. Even though you’re uncertain and embarrassed about your disappearing edges, all is not lost. It's likely the damage is reversible. Read on to find out how to stop living on the edge and learn more about the best products to support your edges.
Why Are Your Edges Thinning?
If you want to regrow your edges, it's time to get to the root of the problem and find out what is causing them to thin. While there are a number of reasons why your hairline is thinning, many times, it's preventable. Here are some common reasons you may be experiencing thinning hair.
- Tight Hairstyles: These are also known as hairstyles that might stress your hair out. They include tight buns, dreadlocks, cornrows, hair extensions, ponytails and some updos, which can tug at the already fragile strands along the hairline.
- Friction: Friction can be caused by routines like extreme heat styling and rigorous towel drying.
- Products and Hair Tools: While gel can be useful for slicking down your edges, if the product is alcohol-based, it may also be adding to the hair damage and breakage by drying out your strands. Not only that, the toothbrush or harsh plastic utensil you use to apply the gel can also cause damage to your fragile edges.
- Hair Relaxers: The repeated application of chemical relaxers has been linked to traction alopecia. The condition is usually not permanent, however.
- Stress: A state of emotional or mental strain can cause temporary thinning, aka telogen effluvium, by disrupting the natural hair cycle. Consequently, when the stress ceases, hair will usually resume its normal cycle.
Shop: Hair Wellness Products for Healthier Hair
Ways to Grow Back Your Edges
It won’t happen overnight, but yes, if your hair loss is temporary, you can reclaim confidence in your hair by growing your edges back. Here are some hair care tips to help you grow back your damaged hair and edges.
Avoid Wearing Tight Hairstyles
Even though tight hairstyles may be your go-to, you need to drop them like a bad habit. If you are experiencing pain, the style is too constricted. If there is pain, throbbing or bumps, you are shocking your hair follicles. For your edge's sake, make yourself a promise to ditch the ponytails, box braids, cornrows and other hairstyles that tug on your hairline.
Learn: What to Know About Stress and Hair Loss
Nix Harsh Hair Tools and Accessories
Avoid sleeking your edges with alcohol-based hair gels, wearing a hat, brushing out hair with a hard brush or wearing headbands or hair bonnets. And while applying chemical relaxers to the edge of your hairline may be popular, it can cause bad breakage. In the end, the edges will also be a different texture than the rest of your hair.
Additionally, if your protective style happens to be the trusted wig or weave – it’s going to be unforgiving when trying to grow your edges back. The constant friction of putting on and taking off wigs can add to losing your hair around the edges, while weaves can be bad for your hairline because of the manipulation. If you leave your edges out from under the weave, you have to manipulate the hair to make your edges look like the texture of your weave through either straightening the hair or some other kind of mechanical manipulation.
And finally, gluing down your hair with extensions and then removing them is also an enemy of healthy hair. By doing so, you are actually pulling the hair from your head, which, in turn, is injuring the follicles.
Avoid Friction and Heat
As already stated, friction of any type is not hair-friendly, so stop rubbing your wet tresses with a towel after washing. Instead, gently blot your hair or wrap your hair in an absorbent towel.
Hot tools are also not good for your hair. They can pull on already fragile strands and further damage your edges. While you don't have to give heat styling up forever, it's time to take an extended break to give your edges a chance.
Also: The Top Causes of Hair Loss
Eat a Balanced Diet
What’s happening with your edges could be the result of something off-balance internally. Low iron levels can affect your edges and hair loss in general. Zinc is a mineral that is essential to tissue growth and repair, including when it comes to your scalp. Other important vitamins for hair include A, B, C, D, E. So make eating a healthy diet a priority.
Also, consider adding a hair-healthy supplement, like GRO Biotin Gummies for Hair, with biotin, zinc and folic acid, along with vitamins B-5, 6 and 12 and vitamins A,C, and E. The B vitamins in the supplement help support keratin and collagen production, while vitamins A, C and E help nix free radicals.
Consult With Your Doctor
If you don't wear tight hairstyles and you're not doing anything directly to cause your edges to thin, you may have a medical condition that's contributing to your hair loss. Or maybe you’re taking medications for conditions like high blood pressure, thyroid, alopecia, depression, stress, acne, infections or weight loss, which can all have a side effect of thinning hair.
Reduce Stress
If your edges are suffering from shedding or telogen effluvium, it can help to reduce stress. Exercise and meditation are two ways to nix stress.
Moisturize Your Edges
When moisturizing the hair, some people go straight to the middle or straight to the back of their mane. A good rule of thumb is to start with your edges first. While pomades are a popular method to moisturize edges, they only temporarily make your hair feel moisturized. Plus, they can clog your follicles, which can stunt hair growth.
Instead, use moisturizing hair-cleansing products like GRO Revitalizing Shampoo and Conditioner with all-natural ingredients. These sulfate-free formulas contain wild harvested marula oil, organic murumuru butter and ximenia oil to moisturize and condition your tresses while fighting free radical damage. Plus, the duo contains VEGAMOUR's proprietary Karmatin™ — a vegan keratin that bonds to hair follicles to promote visibly stronger, thicker and fuller looking hair.
Unlock the Power of Scalp Massages
Get into the habit of massaging your scalp at least three or four times a week, especially the thinning area. Massaging can stimulate the scalp, which is good for its health and can even stimulate hair growth!
While some people use a soft toothbrush, consider the GRO Revitalizing Scalp Massager, which features a series of bristles that are ideal for massaging whether your hair is wet or dry. Use the scalp massager on its own or to work in your hair serums, foams or even shampoo.
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Extra Tips for Your Edges
For further help with distressed hair edges, Sharon Williams, the co-owner of Nappily Naturals, has these expert tips specifically for Black women dealing with the issue.
“Be as natural as possible,” she said. “Black people’s hair or natural hair grows when it’s dirty. Our hair grows quicker in its natural state. Don’t condition your hair every day, and don’t keep your hair wet. Deep condition it once a month. Don’t use oil and gel every day. If you keep it oily, it will thin and break off. Don’t overdo it. Also, don’t put braids on the edge of your hair. You have to be gentle with your edges.”
Williams suggests if you’re keeping your hair in protective styles, keep your edges out. Also, if you want to grow your edges, do not twist your edges. The pull could do damage.
Taking Care of Your Edges Is Worth It
Remember: A thinning hairline is not the end of the world. But it is time to take the health of your hair seriously. By taking simple steps, you can promote healthy edges. Refrain from tight hairstyles, moisturize frequently, massage your scalp, nourish your follicles, eat well, take your vitamins, try not to stress and remember to always be gentle with your edges, especially when you start seeing the baby hairs of new growth. While it may take some patience, effort and high-quality hair products to grow back your natural edges, in the end, it’s well worth it.
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Photo credit: Jeffery Erhunse/Unsplash
