back combing help

I started my second set a little over a week ago (no wax just a comb). I didnt have my first set very long bcuz of wax but this time i wanna go the very best route and the more i read i see the natural is the best route. a friend suggested to me that i should undo the back combing and let it go natural. They havent really set yet so they can easily be taken apart but idk if i should. is it worth taking them out and letting them start over again??

updated by @robert-joe-salyer: 02/14/15 09:41:31AM

i have backcombed both sets i have had unaware of the damage it does. You don't have to comb them out just let them go all natural from now on. Alot of them may come undone, but this is the time to trust your hair they will re-dread the way they need to. No more combing, just separating and washing. that's my opinion anyway.

yea already did damage backcombing combing em back out will just add to it just let em naturalize from here

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Well the back combing pretty much came undone on most of them except for the back of my head so taking them apart wont be hard. I was just contemplating it bcuz back combing did mad damage to my scalp so I wanted to start fresh.

then go for it

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

I started by backcombing in the first week of April. A lot of my dreads cam completely out. Some of the congo'd so I pulled apart a few but I really just let them go.Now after 6 months of just washing and a little twisting here and there mostly for a neat look (it really doesn't do much to help the locks) my dreads are pretty cool.I have made plans to have a major maintenance session, mostly because it is with a super cute little Jamaican woman who ran up on my hair at the beach and professed her love for white girls with dreads! Hahaha!Anyway! I'd definitely say let them go from here. Get to know them and separate when it feels natural, wash when it feels necessary, and love those babies!I wrap them on and off at night, never tried a wool cap but it seems to be a favored method by other members.Good luck!

Robert Joe Salyer said:

Well the back combing pretty much came undone on most of them except for the back of my head so taking them apart wont be hard. I was just contemplating it bcuz back combing did mad damage to my scalp so I wanted to start fresh.

I started mine 2 months ago using backcombing... And mine haven't fallen apart, they actually seem to be coming along alright. I'm not using any products on my hair, just pure some salt water over my head in the shower twice a week and wash with bicard + vinegar once or twice a week. The only thing I do in terms of maintenance is pull apart at the roots, (because I sectioned my hair myself), and because they are not that long, and now I've put a few beads on the ones that were a bit thin, so I'm deliberate making them congo.How does backcombing damage the hair and/or scalp? And how do you know if your hair is damaged?

hair is covered uin scale ;ike cuticles combing smoothes tgenm down ..backcombing pries them open permenantly like visualize a snake or fish and rubbung them with metal teeth if u rub head to tail if its agressive u might pull off a scale or 2 but tail to head your gonna pry those scales up some rip off

cuticles are meant to open and close in responce to

temp

moisture

ph

normally opening when wet closing when dry (alow moisture penetration then seal it in keeping them hydrated

temp to protct from heat damage

ph i think helps prevent chemical damage

(ask pantera)

once u backcomb these cuticles are pried open unable to function

any backcombing no matter how gentle causes tghis so any backcombed hair is damaged

however it can get worse if agressive

the ends split and fracturwe

hairs can be yanked out at the roots

the scalp severely iritated (i dont think the scalp will be permenantly harmed in any way just by backcombing)

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

going for the maintenance session will be a mistake no matter how nice she was

whats involved i the maintenance?

Kerry said:

I started by backcombing in the first week of April. A lot of my dreads cam completely out. Some of the congo'd so I pulled apart a few but I really just let them go.
Now after 6 months of just washing and a little twisting here and there mostly for a neat look (it really doesn't do much to help the locks) my dreads are pretty cool.
I have made plans to have a major maintenance session, mostly because it is with a super cute little Jamaican woman who ran up on my hair at the beach and professed her love for white girls with dreads! Hahaha!
Anyway! I'd definitely say let them go from here. Get to know them and separate when it feels natural, wash when it feels necessary, and love those babies!
I wrap them on and off at night, never tried a wool cap but it seems to be a favored method by other members.
Good luck!

Robert Joe Salyer said:

Well the back combing pretty much came undone on most of them except for the back of my head so taking them apart wont be hard. I was just contemplating it bcuz back combing did mad damage to my scalp so I wanted to start fresh.

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

didnt want to post again somewhere else for the same topic. I have been letting natural dread and Holy MOLY this little bit of natural dreading has shown more results than backcombing and wax ever did in months. My hair is sectioning off small pieces of hair all over (hard to notice at a glance still). There are atleast ten pieces of hair that are dreading super well. I have just started having problems with dandruff though Im not real sure what to do. I haven't put anything in my hair except for ice cold water because I had tried bs/acv wash and other shampoos but they usually made it worse or nothing at all. Im already used to do nothing to my hair so a simple solution would be amazing. THanks.