Hair Emergency:Need Help Immediately!!! Severe Dreads from Micros-Need Help Now!

[kblc06]

Okay, my very close friend who has bsl hair went to an African salon for micros 2 months ago. She went to them 2 days ago to have them removed and applied conditioner to her hair BEFORE REMOVING THE SHED HAIR (huge NO NO NO ). Now her hair is so matted that her regular beautician said she may have to cut her hair off down to 2-3 Inches! Anyone whose been in this situation (I Know there have been prevention threads, but I need one for actual detangling her hair in its current condition

 

[Aidenberry03]

I would let her hair dry completely, then get some braid spray (helps loosen shed hair) and slowly detangle. Its going to take some time, but i think this is the best way to save her hair. Just reminder her that people that have had locs un loc them all the time with patience.

 

[ajoyfuljoy]

she will have to do them one by one...it will take a while. tell her patience is a virtue. this is why i think people shouldn't get micros. I know that doesn't help her situation but the detangling session isn't worth it IMO

 

[unique4lyfe33]

Hi I found this site last yr sometime and I this method help me detangle better.
HTH

http://www.growafrohairlong.com/takingoutplaits.html
click on the video at the bottom

 

[fallback]

I would let her hair dry completely, then get some braid spray (helps loosen shed hair) and slowly detangle. Its going to take some time, but i think this is the best way to save her hair. Just reminder her that people that have had locs un loc them all the time with patience.

You definitely have to have patience to get the hair unmatted! This happened to me about 2 years ago I was freaking out and was about to cut about 2 or 3 inches off. I called my cousin and thank god she talked me into not cutting it. She came over and actually detangled my whole head and my hair is thick too!! It took her about 3 hours and some patience too. She used Paul Mitchells Supercharge on my hair and a needle to untangle. I had very minimal damage after that and vowed never to get micos again. I hope everything works out!!

 

[CurliDiva]

Try using an OIL (for slip) and slowly (this may take hours or even days) to unravel the hair in smal sections by HAND. Don't even think about use a comb or brush!

 

[ChocalateDiva]

Sorry that this happened to your friend. Try Cowboy magic. Best of luck.

 

[Nya33]

Cutting should be last and mean the last resort. My mum had matting and i agree it is going to take a long time to remove it but it can be saved. We applied olive oil and carrot oil and had to loosen wat felt like strand by strand. Hope ur friend and her hair are ok.

 

[Keen]

I would suggest oil and a fine tooth comb. Yall may think I'm crazy with the fine tooth comb but she needs something small enough to get in betwen the tangles. She needs to handle it strand by strand. It will take a LONG time but she will manage to save more hair. This process would work best when someone else is doing it. being able to see the hair while detangling would help.

Good luck.

 

[Auburn]

A client came to me after taking her braids out for 2 months. I had to slowly detangle or detangle strand by strand

 

[Browndilocks]

Try using an OIL (for slip) and slowly (this may take hours or even days) to unravel the hair in smal sections by HAND. Don't even think about use a comb or brush!

I agree, use an oil like evoo. Saturate the hair very generously. When I have a braid removal challenge, I unravel each braid with a safety pin.

 

[prettypuff1]

Okay, my very close friend who has bsl hair went to an African salon for micros 2 months ago. She went to them 2 days ago to have them removed and applied conditioner to her hair BEFORE REMOVING THE SHED HAIR (huge NO NO NO ). Now her hair is so matted that her regular beautician said she may have to cut her hair off down to 2-3 Inches! Anyone whose been in this situation (I Know there have been prevention threads, but I need one for actual detangling her hair in its current condition

Unfortunately I know a friend who went from BSL to BC due to a mishap like this.


I think she should let some braid spray saturate on here hair, then try to detangle

 

[Iluvsmuhgrass]

Several years ago, I kept my hair in too long 1.5 months and had massive build up that caused my hair to mat and it started to dread in some areas. This is what I did.


1. Tell her to go get this!!!!! QUICK!!!!

2. Spray heavily and leave in over night.
3. The next morning spray each section before taking them down.
4. Take out the braids one by one and be GENTLE!!!!!!!!!


I know some folks are going to cringe when I say this, but the only way I was able to get the mats/dreads out was to gently de-tangle with a rat tail comb. I used the tail and the teeth depending on how bad the mat was. I won't lie, it's going to take ALOT of time and patience but she can get them out.

She shouldn't have to cut her hair if she takes it easy. It took me about three days to do this with part time help. I hope all goes well.

 

[Fine 4s]

I may have heard that soaking the hair in ACV losens it up a bit...that in addition to the other things mentioned above should do the trick.
Just don't cut it...

 

[kblc06]

Unfortunately I know a friend who went from BSL to BC due to a mishap like this.


I think she should let some braid spray saturate on here hair, then try to detangle

Unfortunately this is what she may end up doing. She has a bout 2 inches of natural growth, but she is going to go to an Egyptian salon for a steam treatment and seeing if that helps




Thanks for all of your replies guys !

 

[1babydimple]

Had a client come in with this exact problem and I saturated her hair with WGO and EVOO. Finger combed it into sections and just kept working the oil in. Took 3 or more hrs but really worked well. Cutting isn't necessary patience and WGO will loosen the tightest knots. It actually shocked the heck out of me how good it worked.

 

[LadyPaniolo]

I'm surprised to hear that applying conditioner before getting the shed hair out is a no-no. For me, this is the best way to get shed hair out, as it makes everything nice and slippery. The shed hair can slip out without snarling around all the other hair.

But then, I never really get matting problems in my hair (knock on wood).

 

[Keen]

I'm surprised to hear that applying conditioner before getting the shed hair out is a no-no. For me, this is the best way to get shed hair out, as it makes everything nice and slippery. The shed hair can slip out without snarling around all the other hair.

But then, I never really get matting problems in my hair (knock on wood).

I've tried this and ended up with matted hair. Maybe I did it wrong.

 

[DeepBluSea]

I'm surprised to hear that applying conditioner before getting the shed hair out is a no-no. For me, this is the best way to get shed hair out, as it makes everything nice and slippery. The shed hair can slip out without snarling around all the other hair.

But then, I never really get matting problems in my hair (knock on wood).

ITA. I usualy use a cheapie condish mixed with oil. Sometimes a use braid spray for the worst areas with lint and trapped hair. Her mistake was probably not detangling fully. I take down 5 braids at a time. Detangle. Plait it up. Repeat until I'm done. Then I detangle in slightly larger seconds before water or shampoo even touch my hair.

I'm no hair expert, but I think the steam treatment may make things worse. She needs to try oil and condish like others suggested. The WGO should be easy to find.

 

[Solitude]

I'm surprised to hear that applying conditioner before getting the shed hair out is a no-no. For me, this is the best way to get shed hair out, as it makes everything nice and slippery. The shed hair can slip out without snarling around all the other hair.

But then, I never really get matting problems in my hair (knock on wood).

I did this after taking kinky twists out my hair was so hard to untangle that I had to go to the salon for help. I didn't even have the twists in for that long.

It only happened to me once, thought and I have gotten extensions plenty of times. I feel like this happened from trying to wash and moisturize the twists- too much product build-up.

To OP, good luck to your friend!

***Oh yeah, they let my hair soak in some kind of oil that gave it a ton of slip, then detangled in sections with a wide tooth comb, then after washing & conditioning, they used a smaller toothed-comb (not rat-tail, just normal) to detangle it like normal. I lost no noticeable hair.

 

[LadyPaniolo]

ITA. I usualy use a cheapie condish mixed with oil. Sometimes a use braid spray for the worst areas with lint and trapped hair. Her mistake was probably not detangling fully. I take down 5 braids at a time. Detangle. Plait it up. Repeat until I'm done. Then I detangle in slightly larger seconds before water or shampoo even touch my hair.

I'm no hair expert, but I think the steam treatment may make things worse. She needs to try oil and condish like others suggested. The WGO should be easy to find.

Girl, this is almost exactly what I do. I just don't put the oil in. I used cheapo condish from the dollar store in copious amounts. I slather a braid, and then unbraid it from the bottom, remove the extension hair, and comb it out. I never counted, but I do gather up every 7-10 braids and plait them up to keep them out of the way while I work on the others. It takes me a whole day to do. I don't rush it.

After my hair has been combed through and plaited up, I rinse the condish out in the shower, shampoo, and condition again. This is all done while the plaits are still in my hair. Then I apply my leave ins and wet bun. I've never had trouble with doing this, but I understand that everyone's hair is different.

 

[MrsQueeny]

I would do a mix of oil, water and cheap conditioner and just take her time getting the tangles out. Q