Do You Have Hand In Hair Syndrome? Here’s What To Do About it

“What’s so wrong with playing with my own hair?” To be honest there is really nothing wrong with playing in your hair but if you hands are causing your hair harm, then yes you have a problem. Before we get into solving the problem, lets take a quiz to see if you qualify as a person who has Hand In Hair Syndrome (HIHS).

➜ Do you have a need to fondle, play, tease or twirl your hair?

➜ Do you constantly pat your Afro?

➜ Do you go to the bathroom at work every hour to check your hair?

➜ Do you fingers tend to feel better intertwined in twists or coils?

➜ Are you hands and fingers always oily?

➜ When handling school work or job filing, do you leave greasy fingerprints?

➜ Do you twist your hair in nervousness about a date or a test?

If you answered yes to any or all of these questions then you my dear have the disease! In the natural hair community we often joke about this phenomenon, we all know we have it, constantly touching and caressing of our tresses as if we haven’t ever felt anything so wonderful.

Your hands and hair tend to have too much quality time throughout the day causing you to redo your bun for no reason, try a brand new style daily, touch your hair to make sure that it’s still there, and pay more attention to your hair than where you are when walking across the street in busy traffic.

The effects of HIHS

You think you are doing great things when caressing and loving on your hair and believe me I understand, after all self love is the best kind of love. But there are many negative effects of twisting, touching, patting, and styling your hair more than you need to. Here are some of them.

1. The friction from twisting your coils will create split ends and fairy knots which you will need to cut out eventually.

2. The tugging and touching of you hair will cause your hair to experience breakage and frizz especially with styles that we like to keep frizz free. Before you reach for the anti-frizz product, evaluate yourself to see if its you that is making your efforts counter productive.