Long Haired Naturals, did you ignore SSKs???

[NinasLongAmbition]

I BC'D LAST FEB. AND NOW THAT MY HAIR IS GETTING LONGER I'M NOTICING LOTS AND LOTS OF SSKs(single strand knots).

MY QUESTION FOR YOU NATURAL VETERANS, ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH MY SIMILAR HAIRTYPE ( BlackMasterPiece, mwedzi) IS DID YOU GUYS IGNORE YOUR SSKs? I'M DOING ALL THE RIGHT THINGS(COWASHING,DETANGLING WITH A BIG COMB AND DCs), MY HAIR IS GROWING BUT I DONT WANT A SETBACK OR RAGGEDY ENDS WHEN I STRAIGHTEN. ANY ADVICE IS GREATLY APPRECIATED.

 

[LunadeMiel]

I always cut away SSKS. IMO if you don't remove them they will catch on healthy strands and damage them. My hair would have been longer if I weren't so OCD about removing these knots

 

[Leeda.the.Paladin]

One day I straightened my hair and found a TON of SSK in the back right above my nape. I mean, it was littered with them. I ended up trimming about an inch back there. That's when I started wearing a lot of twists and stretched styles. That really helps to keep them at bay (for me).

I do cut them out if I feel them.

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

Hey Nina, when I notice that I'm beginning to get ssk's I think about what I've been doing differently with my hair and if thats the cause for the issue. I can usually laser in on where I went wrong and then rectify the situation.

For example, mini braids with no extensions are seriously one of the absolute best protective styles imaginable for my hair, but when I put them in one time when I knew my ends were scraggly, I ended up with a bunch of SSK's so I knew to be sure my ends were in good shape the next go round.

Once you have em you're gonna have to get a trim eventually but thankfully, hair grows back

Things that keep SSK's at bay for me are washing in 11 braids and keeping my hair stretched 99% of the time.I'll always have some, but it shouldn't be too prevalent if you're doing the right things.

 

[NinasLongAmbition]

Thanks for all your responses. I am currently installing my own kinky twist and I found so many of them as i go along, they irk the heck out of me. I snip when I see them, and sometimes they go so far up , so i'm losing like 2 inches . I guess I can never wear wash and go's and unstretched styles because those are recipes for ssks.

 

[luckiestdestiny]

I don't have many but it's because I keep my hair stretched: either in braids, or if it's out I blow it out or flatiron it.

I do agree if you ever find any you should immediately cut them out (and I make sure to do that when I search and destroy but usually I don't find many because it's stretched 100 percent of the time in some way).

 

[luckiestdestiny]

Forgot to add twists are just not my friend (for more reasons than just ssk). But I learned a long time ago that my hair loves low manipulation. The idea of retwisting and retwisiting is just not good for my hair (envy those who know how to keep twists for weeks on end, but I can keep braids for weeks on end). Thus the braids or blow out (after 80 percent dry of course) and/or flatiron. You have to notice what works (and doesn't for your hair). You may find that some things you do cause more than other things. I'm 4a btw

 

[Chameleonchick]

^^^^ What kind of braids do you keep your hair in?

 

[anon123]

I BC'D LAST FEB. AND NOW THAT MY HAIR IS GETTING LONGER I'M NOTICING LOTS AND LOTS OF SSKs(single strand knots).

MY QUESTION FOR YOU NATURAL VETERANS, ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH MY SIMILAR HAIRTYPE ( @BlackMasterPiece, @mwedzi) IS DID YOU GUYS IGNORE YOUR SSKs? I'M DOING ALL THE RIGHT THINGS(COWASHING,DETANGLING WITH A BIG COMB AND DCs), MY HAIR IS GROWING BUT I DONT WANT A SETBACK OR RAGGEDY ENDS WHEN I STRAIGHTEN. ANY ADVICE IS GREATLY APPRECIATED.

I trim regularly which gets rid of some of them. The rest, I don't stress about. It doesn't seem to be something I can totally control.

 

[luckiestdestiny]

^^^^ What kind of braids do you keep your hair in?

Depends but they're never micros (and it's usually just my hair when it's braided unlike now. Right now I actually have my second weave as a protective style...because I got tired of braiding for a year and a half. But then again that's still braids underneath)...but usually cornrows, or varying styles. Here are some examples on the internet of similar stuff. I'm not "advanced" at all with hairstyles" I usally do something similar to these two.

Also a style I couldn't find online (nor did I take a pic in it) but I like to make medium braids and join them into one braid/french braid (my fall back hairstyle). I wish I had more unique, advanced styles but really I didn't care about anything but protective styling and getting the job done so I could get to my next goal.


But I think any type of braids work for me. If I can't do it, I usually call up a lady I've had do most of my braids since I've been in ny (recommended by a member on lhcf). She's pretty amazing and does a better job than me (and they last much longer).

 

[Leeda.the.Paladin]

Thanks for all your responses. I am currently installing my own kinky twist and I found so many of them as i go along, they irk the heck out of me. I snip when I see them, and sometimes they go so far up , so i'm losing like 2 inches . I guess I can never wear wash and go's and unstretched styles because those are recipes for ssks.

That's no necessarily the case (for all people). Just try to limit the wash n gos, you may be able to wear it unstretched half the time. I think some knots are just part of it...and I'm ok with it.

Hey Nina, when I notice that I'm beginning to get ssk's I think about what I've been doing differently with my hair and if thats the cause for the issue. I can usually laser in on where I went wrong and then rectify the situation.

For example, mini braids with no extensions are seriously one of the absolute best protective styles imaginable for my hair, but when I put them in one time when I knew my ends were scraggly, I ended up with a bunch of SSK's so I knew to be sure my ends were in good shape the next go round.

Once you have em you're gonna have to get a trim eventually but thankfully, hair grows back

Things that keep SSK's at bay for me are washing in 11 braids and keeping my hair stretched 99% of the time.I'll always have some, but it shouldn't be too prevalent if you're doing the right things.

This helps a lot too.