Oh No!! A Set-Back!!

Okay so I posted last night about how great my hair was locking after just four days of neglect... I had found a large mat at the nape of my neck and was able to separate it into two dreads. Well, overnight last night, it matted back up and more hair decided to join the party!!! So basically I woke up this morning with a HUGE, UGLY, AMORPHOUS LUMP of matted hair!!

Try as I might, it would not be separated! I had no choice but to brush it out (OUCH!). I'm so upset right now... I'm thinking that with my whack-a-doodle hair locking so quickly, the only way I'm gonna be able to prevent giant globs and keep my hair from forming into a giant mat is if I resort to sectioning and back-combing.

But before you tell me why I shouldn't do it, please continue reading and hear me out!

Last fall, I back-combed to start dreadlocks... I did it myself, but ended up taking them out after a month because the back was very lopsided and spread-out looking. Trust me--it looked like shit. The other reason was that I got horrible dandruff and it was driving me crazy! But dandruff is something that I now know how to prevent and treat correctly and I found someone here in my home town who knows the correct way to section and back-comb. When I had back-combed starter dreads before, they were actually locking up REALLY fast!

So, being that I now know how to deal with dandruff and that I found someone who can CORRECTLY section and back-comb, I'm thinking of going that route in order to control my crazy-locking hair. Of course, I'm open to input and insight from more seasoned dread-heads. Although I do hope some people will offer support and non-biased things to say.

updated by @michelle-d-ransdell: 02/14/15 02:27:42AM

I say y not try some beads to section it and see if that helps keep the knots from forming one massive dread

I tried that the first day and they hurt my head while I was trying to sleep.

correctly sectioning ? you mean a goofy brick pattern? thats not correct sectioning at all it should be far more random big small everything in metween

also tnr is way better then backcombing..do it yourself right now today its easy just make sure no sections are bigger then an inch at the scalp

thats all u need to do

feel around find some hair thats from a section no bigger then an inch and twuust and rup it

if you let this person section and backcomb you will regret it

we'll guide you to do it right..right now today

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

I understand that you enjoy having nice sectioning. I am the same way. But i bet id bewilling to bet you could live without the back combing process. Its tedious and really not necessary. Plus you look pretty stupid for a while after your initial instillation. Consider sectioning your hair and just leaving it that way to dread. (sectioning and no backcombing) the sectioning will stay especially with your curly hair. It might help to keep your sections/dreads from merging and tangling where you dont want them. but honestly probably not.youll still have to separate them. Vigilant separating is the only thing i i have found to work against that. Recently i have started seperating from the scalp up every two weeks or so. In between then i just pop them as normal.

My wife was having the same problem with a lump of matted hair so we followed her natural sections that had formed after the first 3 weeks and we twisted and ripped it all ... problem solved.

Oh boy... I'm having a tough time understanding just how TnR works. I've watched videos, but in a few of them, it's tough to tell what exactly is going on. It's my understanding that you take two sections of hair, twist them together and then forcefully pull them apart until they stop at the roots. Is this correct?

I really wish there was a sagely dready in Louisville that could show me this stuff. Normally, I'm really good with my hands, but TnR has got me stumped and I feel like a doofus. Is there a really good video of it out there that someone can recommend or post on here?

*MEGA FRUSTRATION*

no you take 1 strand twust it up (not too tight) split it into 2 parts and pull not too forcefully pit it back together split in a difefent location pull each time split randomly so u have diferent ammounts of hir in each hand every time

after a bunch of split and pulls retwuast..again randomly like every 10-15 or so pulls

it takes a few to bunch of split and pulls to get a base knot started after that its faster

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Thank you Soaring Eagle! I just watched more videos, after digging more deeply on youtube, and now have a better understanding of how it works. My roommate and my husband have offered to do it for me so I don't have to pay someone and so it doesn't look stupid like it would if I did it myself.

HOORAY!!!

soaring eagle said:

no you take 1 strand twust it up (not too tight) split it into 2 parts and pull not too forcefully pit it back together split in a difefent location pull each time split randomly so u have diferent ammounts of hir in each hand every time

after a bunch of split and pulls retwuast..again randomly like every 10-15 or so pulls

it takes a few to bunch of split and pulls to get a base knot started after that its faster

I think for the most part many of us have difficulty with the back section. I have a few flatten dreads back there that are recovering slowly. It is most certainly due to sleeping on the back of our heads. Try using a wool head wrap to pull the hair up & out of the way in conjunction with a round head pillow that only supports the base of your skull so the dreads don't get matted up together. Through my own experience I have found that the best head wraps overall are made by Buff Sports. They are of excellent quality, long, great fitting & super comfy. Better yet they also happen to make a 100% Merino Wool headwrap that's ideal for us dreadheads and does not leave any lint. It's winter right now so a lot of cool unique designs are depleted but the basic colors are still in stock. They do cost a bit more, but I've tried many different kinds from local knitters to national brands these are hands down the best in my opinion. Hope this helps & keep us posted. http://www.buffusa.com/sports/collections/wool-buff-reg/styles/filter/original