OP unless your hair is streched out all the time you are bound to get SSKs (I know I sound like a broken record
). The key is to not let them get out of hand. When you see a knot cut it out. I went from 1"-3" to now past waistlength (in 4 years) and for the majority of the time I wore my hair shrunken. My hair would have been longer if only I learned to take care of the knots sooner. Nothing besides stretched ends will make them go away