Thinning locks is not normal, and it really doesn't matter if you have sisterlocks or dreadlocks. Below I will explain in detail what is normal, and what is not normal when losing locks, since I have both healthy locks and unhealthy locks due to health issue.

Snapping or Breaking Locks = Normal

When locks snap off, it could be due to many reasons. One main reason is stress on the locks itself. Dreadlocks and Sisterlocks are not immune to breakages, so don't think just because your hair is locked, it won't ever break. If you put extreme pressure on your locks, you will cause damage, which will cause breakages. I know we like to be creative when we do the cornrow style, color jobs, etc., but remember after a while, you too will cause damage to your locks, especially if you do them constantly (especially for sisterlocks). There are no guarantees with locks, unless you are extremely careful, and don't do any type of styling what so ever. You will always have at least one lock or two snap at some point, and that is just how life is when you are locked.

Note: I had one of my lock snapped off at the end, while being caught on my purse strap. So I was really upset about it, but that episode brought to my attention that my sisterlocks are indeed getting longer, and I need to pay more attention now.

Thinning Hair & Thinning Locks = Not Normal

If you hair is breaking or thinning at the scalp, that it NOT normal. I don't care if it's at the temple, the back, or the middle. You hair should not be thinning out at the scalp. Of course, if your hair is thinning at the scalp, it will cause your lock to start thinning out, which will cause it to become unstable and hence the breakage. The cause of the thinning can vary from person to person, but the most common reason are age related, alopecia, and postpartum. Those three reason are usually the main reason why lock wearer start to notice their lock are starting to thin, which lead to breakage.

So thinning vs. snapping (breaking) are completely two different things. Snapping or breaking locks can be a normal occurrence, if you are rough with your locks. Thinning on the other hand, is not normal and usually happens at the root or scalp, while the snapping or breaking can happen at any point on the lock itself (example at the end or middle of the lock).

If your hair is thinning at the scalp, I suggest getting some help. I for one struggle with thinning hair, and I'm glad I was able to get some help and the knowledge to combat my issue, and you will be happy to get some solution to yours. Once you find out what causing your hair thinning, do some research to see what you can do the ease the problem. If you happen to just have a baby, know that thinning may just be a temporary thing, and eventually it will stop, and your hair will grow back. Below are an example of thinning hair at the scalp/root.

Thinning Locks = Not Normal
Below is an example of hair thinning which is not normal. The first picture is how the lock started off which was thicker, and healthier.

Above is a healthy looking locks from the root to the end. These locks are nice, thick, and just healthy from the bottom up. Hope this post help you understand what is normal, and what is not normal with locks breaking, snapping, or thinning.

Left 175 lbs -  Right 155 lbs - Current 149 lbs

I loss about 30 locks and some are still pending, due to my ongoing issues, and for the most part letting myself get unhealthy due to complete laziness. You always hear that saying that in order to have healthy hair, you need to have a healthy body. That statement applies to me!

Taking care of your body is hard enough, but when you have to battle hair loss, it really starts to become tiresome and old. Doing the herbal/natural stuff to retain or lessen your hair loss is not the only and right way to go. You MUST change your lifestyle!

I did stop going to the GYM for a while, and I'm sure you guys noticed on some of the later post of last year, I was gaining weight. I especially notice it on my Disney trip last year, when I was trying to figure out which picture makes me look less big. Due to the fact that I'm tall, my weight gets distributed everywhere, but especially to my hip, face, and stomach area.

My consultant also notice that my hair was starting to thin again, which was frustrating and embarrassing as well. I know my hair loss triggers, and it always stress, and not eating right, so I made the decision this time around to stop and just remain on the healthy path for good!

So once again I started my weight loss journey again on January of 2013 of this year. I went back to the "Lose It" app, but this time around, I made friend by visiting the forum to keep me motivated.  I also decided to learn how to run. I download a cool app called C25k, and learn how to run from that. I invested in a heart monitor to make sure that the calories I burn are correct. What is at the GYM is a GUESS, you honestly don't burn that amount. For example, if you heaver, you tend to burn more calories, and if you lighter, you tend to burn less, doing the same type of workout.

This time around, I will not be letting myself go, because if I really want to have healthy long sisterlocks. I just have to eat better, and live a healthier lifestyle. I also started to set goals after I had reached my goal weight  (which is my college weight). My first goal right now is to do a 5K run (still pending), and the second is the be more tone. I also plan on doing the P90X (Insanity Workout) next month. Once I'm done with that challenge, I will release a before & after post. Right now, I'm doing Yoga (to strengthen my core), Weights, and trying to plan/train for my first 5k Marathon.

Example of my stickies

I don't know about others, but Sisterlocks has made me more aware of my thin and short locks in the middle. My hair is growing back, but I get frustrated when I see a bunch of short locks in one area (center of my scalp). The frustration I feel stem from questions that get asked from total stranger, which may give off the wrong impression about sisterlocks.

For example, I was walking in the Mall the other day, and a young lady asked me if I had sisterlocks. I answered yes. Then she asked to touch them and I let her. Then followed the next dreaded question. Why the locks in the front are so short? Does your sisterlocks snap easily? Usually I lie and say, my side was damaged and those are hairs that are growing back. Sometime I don't even bother lying and say, yes they did snap, but that was due to alopecia. Then they start to ask why I got them so small, especially knowing I have alopecia.

When I decided to get sisterlocks, I really didn't know I had alopecia. That finding came out from a visit to a dermatologist, after experiencing hair thinning again (learn more here).To be honest, even if I had known I had alopecia, I still would have gone the "standard small" route and that is because of  A) Awareness - I notice a lot faster when my hair start to thin out, which cause my locks to start thinning out as well.  B) I can disguise the thinning area much better due to the fullness of my locks.

If you look at my pictures in the past couple of post, do you guys even notice I have a bunch of stickies in the middle? The answer would be no, since I make sure to cover those area.




If you suffer from thinning hair like I do, you have some hard decisions to make about getting sisterlocks. Sisterlocks or any locking method will not SAVE or CURE your thinning hair. If you do decide to get sisterlocks, then you must talk to your consultant first to see what size fits your needs.

I ran into an article that looks promising for Alopecia suffers. I wanted to share it with you guys.

Below is a brief snippet

A team of researchers from UCLA and the Veterans Administration was experimenting with mice to learn more about how stress affects gastrointestinal function. Think: mice colons.

The mice had been genetically altered to overproduce a stress hormone called corticotrophin-releasing factor.

As the altered, stressed out mice aged, they lost their hair.

Sound familiar?

The researchers injected the bald mice with a chemical compound called astressin-B, which blocks the action of the stress hormone.

Then they put them back in their cages.

They expected to monitor how astressin-B affected the mice guts, but when they returned to the mice three months later, they couldn't tell the treated mice from their hairy brethren.

All of them were covered with fur.

"We thought they were mixed up," said Million Mulugeta, an adjunct professor of medicine in the division of digestive diseases at UCLA, by telephone.

The researchers checked the ID tags and discovered they were, in fact, the mice that had been bald just three months earlier.

Read More of the Article Here >>

Also they has been an update of the Astressin-B finding here

I'm starting to see improvement of the issues that I had last years. Like I explain to you guys late last year, I use to wear a lot of weaves and braids before I went natural. Due to that, I had a lot of breakage, and traction alopecia became apparent when hair wouldn't grow back. Some of the hair that I lost will never grow back, but the little that still had life is slowing coming back, and I'm very happy about that. Another issue I had was the back of my hair was refusing to lock and this was causing me to have unraveling locks which equal to longer time spent on the hair. Well for the most part my hair is finally locking up in the back of my hair which I notice is making my retighten time MUCH shorter.

Below are the comparison shots of my issues, and as you can see, things are changing for the better.

Successful Growth Left Frontal Side

Successful Growth ( One area is still not growing, I'm still hopeful though) Right Frontal Side

Successful Growth = Baby Locks (Left Pictures) Right Frontal Side (Right Pictures) Left Frontal Side

Successful Locking = Happy Camper :D (Left ) Older Pictures (Right ) Current Pictures Hair is still soft but it more settle then the left picture.

Note: You can click on any of the images to enlarge. All image are copyright by me. Please ask for permission if you want to use any of my pictures.

I do have Alopecia, and I believe mines are trigger by stress. The type of Alopecia I believe I have is Telogen Effluvium which is mostly associated with stress. So I'm doing everything in my power to battle my stress.

When I was pregnant there was no way I could really fight my stress. I lost my job and I still had bills to pay. On top of that, I end a relationship that I felt was wrong at the time. So being pregnant and broke wasn't a pleasant experience and hair lost was just a result of that. I did shed some tears, and I was very bitter at that time, but something good came out of that experience. I had a beautiful girl that I love dearly, and became a born again Christian. I really do hope and pray that I don't lose my sisterlocks.

Right now I'm at a place where I can hopeful fight this issue a little bit more. I'm at a job that I love (so I'm not getting the stress from there) and I'm working out every week, which does help alleviate my stress. I also take Biotin and One A Day Women's. I recently started adding Black Tea to my diet vs. having coffee in the morning. Somehow I got addicted to Coffee and I'm slowing reining myself off. Dr. Oz (that my show) had a show piece where he talk about how to battle stress and he recommend having Black Tea instead of Coffee, because Black Tea is a stress fighter. I also try to incorporate Rosemary in all of my core product that I use. The Shampoo & Conditioner that I use, has Rosemary, which researcher shown is a good ingredient to stimulate hair growth. I also recently add essential oils to my line of products. I rub those essential oils on my scalp after every wash; two ingredients that are in the essential oils I use are Rosemary and Sage.

With all of these prevention measure, I hope I don't ever get the full blown Alopecia I experience in the past. What doesn’t kill you can only make you stronger.

Off Topic: I put a picture of the Cherry Blossom for this post, because for some reason, when I look at Cherry Blossom it claims me. I always loved Cherry Blossom and I hope one day I can visit a place that have Cherry blossom in full bloom.

I call my doctor and complain that I didn't receive my blood work, and now I'm receiving a bills for service that has not been delivered. Well I got the shocking news that I didn't expect, and that is I do have Alopecia. Now I’m wonder if I should have left it alone – what you don’t know won’t kill you. I guess the fact that I have Alopecia came to light after my blood work was done. The nurse also noted that my blood sugar level was also a little low. I'm totally shocked by this news. I really wish the Dr. Rubenstein was a little bit more forth coming when he examine me. He stated from the look of it (my scalp) it didn't look like I had Alopecia.

The nurse went ahead and told me to that I can come in and get some shot for the affect area. I told her no, and that I currently want to wait it out, since my next appointment is in November. So far my hair is growing back, but now I'm a little worried. This news is totally unexpected, and I’m not going lie, I'm sad about it. I may be upset about this now, but I know some people have it a lot worst them me, so God Bless everyone that is facing this issue. All I can do is hope for the best.

P.S. I added the diagram above because of what I experience in the past. I started noticing my hair thinning during and after my pregnancy. The figure above shows what happen to me in the past. I went through all those stages before my sisterlocks. After I hit stage III, I cut off my hair. That diagram also shows what my mom is currently struggling with. She is at stage III.

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Thinning Roots – Hence Thinning Locks
My Dermatologist Visit.