HELP! My Hair is One Big, Matted Mess!!!!!

[reggie56]

No matter what I do, I can't seem to get rid of the matted mess on my hair. All day long, I'm pulling my hair apart and pulling out little balls of hair. I need some major help. Do those little balls of hair mean that I'm losing my hair? I don't understand why my hair is matting all over the place. No matter how much I moisturize, condition or deep condition, clarify [I did this last night], my hair won't detangle! I can't even comb my hair because its matted so badly in various areas.

Can anyone [and particularly the natural ladies] help me with this? I'm growing more and more frustrated as the days pass. My hair has grown, but I want to cut it all off because of the matting.

Help....

 

[melodee]

Reggie, how was your hair styled previously? Were you in braids or a protective style for an extended period of time? When I come out of any protective style, I have alot of tangling from the shed hair that got entangled with the rest. Have you tried in leave in or spray detangler, and a hot oil treatment? Also soaking the matted areas with jojoba or olive oil may help give that area slip so you can get the shed hair out. If all else fails, see a stylist that you can trust will do his/her best to detangle without hacking you up. Good luck.

 

[ChocolateCutee]

hi reggie. I know what you mean about those horrible little knots. I usually see them when I leave my hair out for long periods of time. Have you been wearing your hair out? This could be the problem. Remember that natural hair is curly so it tends to curl and tangle much more than straight hair so this could just be the nature of your hair.

You also could be in need of a trim. Here are a few reasons why I think your hair could be knotting. The key is to keep your ends moisturized. Have you tried glycerin and rosewater? Its a really good moisturizer and keeps the hair soft for ages.

hth

 

[reggie56]

Thank you so much, ladies. I'll try a hot oil treatment with olive oil [why didn't I think of this]. I have been wearing my hair out because the buns were causing some damage. I have wedding to attend next week, but I plan on getting some professionally-done two-strand twists thereafter. I think I'll keep getting them re-done until the weather warms up. I need to protect my hair more than I do...

Thanks so much again and God bless...

R56

 

[NGC]

Hi Reggie!
That's a good idea. Another style to try is the flat-twist. You can add a fake bun in the back to cover the ends of your hair.

Here's a pic of my flattwists:
Back of Flat Twists

Top of Flat Twists

 

[GodMadeMePretty]

NGC, how long does this style last. I'm thinking of doing it for my daughter. How long does it take? I tried before and gave up although I can cornrow really well.

 

[reggie56]

Oh, NGC! This looks lovely!!! What an excellent idea! Thanks so much for sharing. I can do the flat twists myself, so I'll try that this evening when I do the hot oil treatment.

Thanks again!

 

[Chimma]

Hi reggie,

As a mostly natural - this is my experience. Natural hair is easy to manage if cared for regularly. As in, if I deep condition/deep oil treat once a week, keep regularly moisturized w/ water, olive oil, and shea butter and comb frequently, I don't encounter any problems at all. Easy to comb, etc. even when dry.

But if I let it go for a while w/o caring or let my hair get washed and then don't bother to comb for a few days, I can have dry hair, breakage, or immense tangles.

So I think that if you can work through this, and it may take a long time if you are patient and don't break through the tangles, then you will start with a clean slate and you can definitely prevent it from happening again.

But it may be very difficult to actually go from matted hair now to well combed, conditioned hair. Even adding water can cause the matts to knot together.

Here's a copy of a message from another post. I never tried it, but maybe someone else can comment on whether it works:
You probably see this on every post, but maybe clarify? Also, you could try just saturating with cheap conditioner, setting aside some time, and section by section try to detangle?

Here is a recipe I copied from the old Longhairlovers, I'm not sure if it has already been posted or modified since I copied it (the steps look kind of out of order...):

Selah's Tangle Buster Routine
1) Section hair down center w/fingers or comb.
2) Gently and thoroughly saturate each section.
3) Before-hand, you will take a plastic pitcher that holds say 2 q. of water.
Pour in about 1/8 c.-1/4 c. of vinegar or so (cv or white). I just eyeball amt. Then pour in ALOT of conditioner. I use a cheapie or something I won't buy again for this stage. My hair is a few inches past my shoulders so I dump in about 1/2 c. or so.
Add about 3 tbsp. of light oil - Amla, coconut etc. I also put in about 2 tbsp of Elasta Recovery, but that's optional. Fill w/water, stir with hand.
4) Pour SLOWLY over each section, holding palm of other hand under hair to catch liquid against hair. Don't rub or manipulate hair now! Loosely pin up each section for about 3 min.
5) Take down. Gently finger comb as much as you can. Rinse about 3/4 of mixture out. Don't overrinse.
6) Shampoo only ONCE. Massage scalp moving hair as little as possible. Don't rub and manipulate hair length. Gently squeeze length, milking shampoo down it. I do this for about 60 - 90 seconds each side. Your hair will be clean, so don't worry about short time frame. Shampooing too long & multiple times causes tangles. Gently rinse each section.
7) Now apply your good conditioner liberally. Again, pin up hair. Let sit for about 3 min.
8) Take hair down. Gently finger comb. Only at this point should you comb hair. I use a seamless wide tooth comb from Sally's by Cricket ($1.99). Seamless ones are a must. Gently rinse, cool water.
9) Do another vinegar mixture, now just minus the conditioner. Again, use the coolest water you can stand to close those cuticles. Do NOT rinse out.
10) When towel drying, do not run. Gently pat/squeeze dry. That's it!

* Optional - adding essential oils on the front end mixture, or back end vinegar rinse. *

fyi - I do not use shampoos w/the chemicals to make all the suds. They strip and dry it out. I like alot of products, including: African Formula (shea shampoo / condit for ex.), Aubrey Organics (GPB deep condit, Blue Camomile Shampoo, Island Naturals), Nature's Gate (the Herbal s & c is very good & helps w/tangles).
There's more, but once I use them, I'm going to pare down to just 3, one being a mild shampoo/oil/E.O. mixture I'll make using Dr. Bronner's.

 

[NGC]

GMMP,

I think I kept this two or three weeks. It didn't take long. Including washing, maybe two hours.

Reggie - Thank You and Your Welcome

I forgot about the tangle buster's routine. Reggie- that really does work. I tried it a few weeks ago.

Let us know how it goes.