Taking into account a new study which was reported in the Archives of Dermatology, it is possible for some sorts of hair styles to increase the risk of hair loss. These hair styles include weaves and tight braids. Any hair style which causes too much pull on the hair may lead to this risk. This type of hair loss is called central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia. It is on the crown of the scalp (the vertex) and surrounding areas.
A study was done of 326 African-American women, they answered a questionnaire about how they treat their hair, as well as other life style indicators such as health status. Scalp examinations were also performed on the women to get a better picture of what the hair was doing and what sort of hair loss was occurring. Almost 60 percent of the women showing significant signs of scarring hair loss were using these sorts of hair style. Also women had a heightened likelihood of type 2 diabetes and scalp infections. It should be noted though that this result in of itself does not show that it was the hair style itself which is causing the hair loss, there could also have been another factor involved from environmental to genetic that is causing this problem. It should be noted that it could also have been due to the diabetes or the elevated bacterial infections. The study itself was not blinded. Read the abstract of the paper for more information.