Over time I have gotten into the habit of putting my hair into a braid (or sometimes two) at night before bed to keep my hair from getting badly tangled while I sleep, and I secure it with hair ties. I've heard a lot of people say this is good for preventing tangles and keeping hair in better shape.
I've also heard, however, that securing your hair in the same spot regularly can over time damage the hair there. Is there truth in this?
Can securing my hair in the same spot with hair ties every night cause any damage to that area?
This was just a thought, but I wondered if that's true, and if so are there ways to prevent that little bit of damage?

Bardic_Love--I wonder the same thing.  I think my growth rate is about 3/4-1 inch per month, so the hair tie isn't in the same exact spot for very long, but I still worry about damage, especially when braiding since I have to keep the tie pretty tight for it to stay on at the ends.  I've seen people post that they make their own hair ties out of pantyhose or satin to have hair friendlier ties, but I've never managed this for myself.  

Another a bit worried here. I wear my hair braided for night, and in a bun made on a ponytail base on a day (I can't make a bun without it). I use mostly all-elastic flat ponytail holders which I find the most hair friendly.

My problem is, that those satin ribbons wouldn't work. I even have problems with regular scrunchies- my hair is super hyper slippery and if I want to put it it up securely, I need a fairly tight ponytail holder of some kind. So I really feel that I have no choice. So far I haven't noticed breakage...but I've heard the warnings so often that I'm worried neverthless.

If ponytail holders must be used, I recommend all-elastic. Ones that have a metal part can tear hair and such have caused breakage for me in the past.

The damage from putting hairties in the same place comes from very tight hairties.  If you are using a hairfriendly (i.e. no metal and does not "grab" the hair when you take it out), you probably are not causing a great deal of damage.  

I've found that wrapping the ends of my braid helps disperse the tension on the hair and reduce damage.  At night I braid my hair but do not put a tie on the end of my braid.  Instead I put my hair in a sock and secure the sock with a hair tie.  This keep my hair from tangling and I don't put too much tension on the fragile ends of my braid.  As an extra bonus, my braid end has a nice natural looking curl on the end in the morning.

metal or no metal, the only ones i find nice to the hair are thick and soft kind of ties. i bought recently the last generation kind without metal: i find them personally worse, especially when put "high" into the hair (ponytail /half updo). to tie off a braid i think anything would go for me. some work well for it cuze nice and soft but then they also pull out hair when used to make a thin ponytail (half updo).

BB, i am still wondering which kind of sock you use and how you proceed  :)

wrote on Jan 31^st, 2005 at 10:36am:

BB, i am still wondering which kind of sock you use and how you proceed  :)

My sock is an old cotton sock - the last hold-out of my favorite socks  :'(  It is just a crew sock, so my hair reaches the toe, then curls a bit.  I secure the top of the sock to braid with a scrunchie or Bunjii tie.  Since the hairtie is going around the sock and not my directly on my hair, it wouldn't really matter what I used.  The tie needs to be tight enough to keep the sock on, but not so tight that it might damage the hair.

My hair is getting long enough now that I am about to switch to a longer sock like a tube sock.  But I am a bit attached to my old, cotton, purple crew sock - it has been a great way to keep using it!

~¤ goes searching for cotton socks in the cupboards ¤~

thanks, but it seems i only have sport socks which aren't very long  :'(

If you have an old pair of tights or panty hose, you could use a leg for your hair.  I'm going to have to give up on my sock soon, as my hair is getting a bit long for it.  I figure a leg of a pair of tights will work pretty well.