Meta Pixel 추적 이미지
BodyRipple한국어

When I wear my hair tied up, the back of my neck and scalp feel pulled tight by evening

Asked by a member on Jun 14, 2026한국어

This question was asked in Korean and answered by Korean body care experts. Read the original or ask your own question on the Korean site.

Area
Neck, scalp
Started
For the past two or three months

I leave home in the morning with my hair tied tightly, but by the afternoon I get a pulling sensation in the back of my neck and the upper part of my scalp, almost as if they’re being squeezed. Letting my hair down helps a little, but the stiffness is still there. This happens every day, so I’m wondering whether the habit of tying my hair itself might be the problem. Could it have something to do with the way I tie it?

Key takeaways

  • Tying your hair up while pulling it upward can easily cause tension in both the scalp fascia and the muscles at the back of the neck
  • Lowering the height and loosening the tension a little may help reduce the tightness
  • Making a habit of gently releasing tension along the line from the crown to the back of the neck can help

Warning signs

  • Discomfort that lasts a long time or gradually gets worse
  • Numbness, weakness, or changes in sensation occurring at the same time
  • Discomfort that began after an injury
  • Pain that wakes you at night or significantly interferes with daily life

Answers2

Park Yang-su

Fascia and muscle care · Jun 14, 2026

If you’ve always worn your hair tied up but the discomfort started two or three months ago, I’d say it may be due to tension in the upper trapezius, sometimes called the stress muscle; tension in the four suboccipital muscles between the occipital bone (the back of the head) and the first (or second) cervical vertebra; irritation of the occipital nerve from tying your hair tightly; or a forward shoulder-and-neck posture (rounded shoulders).
I can’t see the questioner’s posture, but my guess is that something caused the shoulders and neck to move forward, which has made the tissues involved in the discomfort more tense than usual.
I think massaging or stretching the whole neck, shoulders, and back may help.
If it’s difficult to resolve on your own, help from a BodyRipple professional should make it easy to address.

BodyRipple expert

Jun 14, 2026

Since your hair is being pulled in one direction all day, it’s entirely possible for your scalp and the back of your neck to feel tight by evening. Tying your hair back is, in effect, like keeping your scalp slightly pulled upward and backward for hours at a time.

The scalp is covered by a thin, membrane-like tissue, and this tissue connects like a single sheet from the forehead over the crown and back of the head to the muscles at the back of the neck. So when you tie your hair high and tightly, that tissue gets taut, which can make the muscles at the back of your neck, attached to the end of it, feel pulled as well. The higher you tie it and the stronger the elastic, the greater the pull tends to be.

Here are a few things you might want to try. First, tie your hair one or two levels lower than usual, and loosen the elastic by one notch. If you tie it in the same spot every day, that spot keeps getting pressed, so changing your part or the position of the tie a little from day to day is another way to spread out the strain. Also, if you take your hair down around lunchtime and use your fingers to gently move the scalp in circles from the crown to the back of your head, the tight feeling may ease considerably.

In the evening, gently press behind your ears and along the edge of the back of your head with both hands, making slow circles. You can also tuck your chin in slightly and lengthen the back of your neck; you may feel the line from the crown to the back of your neck relax together. If you observe the difference over a few days between tying your hair tightly and wearing it loose, you’ll get a sense of how much pulling your scalp can comfortably tolerate.