How To | Pony Tail to Avoid Headaches

Do you avoid ponytails at all costs? Not because you have a funky hairline or you think your ears poke out, but because wearing your hair in a ponytail simply causes you too much pain? Tying your hair back tight with an elastic brings on a headache faster than banging your head against the wall would. But ruling out ponytails altogether eliminates roughly half of all hairstyles out there! Okay, maybe not exactly half, but there’s a lot to miss out on and you shouldn’t have to.

The solution is a hairstyle that gives you the look and all of the benefits of a ponytail, but modified enough that a headache can be avoided. Keep reading to find out how!

Why do ponytails create headaches for some? When your hair is pulled tight, it irritates the muscle system, particularly the connective tissues, on your head. The thicker, heavier hair you have, the more likely you are to irritate that tissue and get a headache from your ponytail.

To avoid a headache, try this hairstyle! You can start with clean or dirty hair, but to be honest most people are using a ponytail to hide their less-than-clean hair. Don’t worry, that will work perfectly for this no-headache ponytail!

First, separate your hair into two sections by gathering the hair from one temple, around the back of your head, and connecting back to your other temple. This is your top section. Keep the top section out of the way while you gather the rest of your hair underneath. Tie the bottom section of hair into a tight ponytail just higher than the middle of your head.

Next, take the top section of your hair and secure it into a ponytail so that it is sitting just above the first ponytail.

You can tease your ponytail or tails to give them some extra volume, especially the top ponytail so that it hides your second, lower ponytail. And you’re done! It’s so simple!

Having your hair split into two different ponytails gives you the control you need to adjust your ponytail, or ponytails, throughout the day. If you notice a headache coming on because the bottom ponytail is too tight, you can loosen and adjust it as needed. The same goes for your top ponytail! Splitting up your hair into two different sections helps to distribute the weight of your hair on your hair in two different spots instead of just one. This helps to keep the hair from pulling too intensely on a single group of that connective tissue on your scalp.

Extra sensitive to headaches? You could even try splitting your hair into three ponytails, one secured just above another. Just start with your lowest ponytail at the middle and back of your head, and secure the other two one after another above that.

If that doesn’t work, try a low ponytail. Keeping the ponytail low will help reduce the weight on your head. Your hair naturally falls down around your neck anyway, so securing it at the nape of your neck is a lot less likely to put additional weight on those connective tissues of that pretty little head of yours.