Stop pulling them out!!

You know when the hairs first start turning upside down and wind themselves up? Like, you can see the white root of your hair follicle just hanging there, taunting you, saying, "pull me out! pull me out! I'm supposed to be hanging the other way but I'm dead so get rid of me!" Yeah. THOSE!

I'm in my... third? fourth? I lost count.. week now and I swear that I have developed a new OCD -- staring at those upside down hairs in my locks in the mirror and trying to make them go away by death glare alone. I've picked more than a few out by now and every time I slap myself because I only realize what I'm doing when the hair is hanging there from my finger tips already pulled out of my dreads.UGH! Frustrating!

How do you guys deal with this compulsion? Besides the obvious mantra of, "don't pull. don't pull. don't pull."

updated by @angel-frye: 02/14/15 04:07:41PM

dont look in the mirror

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Exactly SE!!! LOL Angel, you are undoing progress everytime you do that. Those hairs are like the twigs of a nest...you are making a real problem for yourself. As long as you don't comb your hair, you will have these fallen hairs that bear the follicle or skin tag on the end. There is no way around them. I have tons, but I do find they blend in more after a fresh henna job These little annoyances arean essential part of dreading.
soaring eagle said:

dont look in the mirror

SE: "dont look in the mirror"

I am a woman. That just ain't an option. My Mom used to say when I was a teenager, "Angel never met a mirror she didn't like." And it's true. I see a mirror and I'm standing in front of it to check it out and make sure everything's looking good. Sick sick sick.

Panterra: "Those hairs are like the twigs of a nest...you are making a real problem for yourself."

I knowwwww! That's why it upsets me so badly. I also know I'm whining at the choir; it's useless. I know it's really just self discipline that'll make me keep my hands out of my hair. Seeing those hair follicles makes me crazy. And henna would be a wonderful temp. fix or even my regular hair color but I am determined that I am done with that stuff. I'm letting my hair go completely natural, 40% gray and all. Screw conformity and keeping up with the Joneses. (or those thrice damned Kardashians!!) Sick of it. I am embracing my grays.

How the hell do they do that anyway? Get turned upside down, I mean. Just weird physics if you ask me.I don't understand how a hair that is dead and unattached get's wiggled back up inside a lock of hair upside down.

Anyone sleep on a crocheted pillow case before? Or wool? Do you know if it helps the locking process any faster? The Suave did a trashtastic number on my hair and undid a lot of knotting. My hair looks like a hot mess. If anyone tells me wool really helps I am wholeheartedly willing to crochet myself a few nubby wool pillow cases.

I know this is an old post, but I've just started noticing the upside down, follicle-y loose hairs, so I searched the forum. They are fun to pull so I'm gonna have to try really hard not to! I've only done it once or twice now. On the other hand, by seeing those--does this mean I'm making progress?

Upside down hairs are definitely a sign of progress. Congrats!

As long as you're not combing your making progress. Those just mean your alive.They come from hair shedding, or by being pulled out by backcomb

it's just the roots of the hair that come loose.

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

don't really know how to word this without being confusing, but will the white follicles pull into the dreads eventually? or like, will the amount of dreaded growth (not the hair that was dreaded when you start your dreads, but the hair the hair that grew after and dreaded) always have these white follicles poking out? wow, that wasn't as confusing as i thought it would be! haha

u kniow i hsave no good answer for you cause i have closely inspected mine and have never found 1 single 1 but ive seen youngish backcombed dresads totaly covered in them ..like 5-10 every square inch

so i always figured they were far worse in backcombed hair from being pullded out during the backcombing

i never looked close enough at older backcombed dreads to notice if they were stillthere or not

but since u should see some from normal shedding and i cant find any at all on mine i got to assume hey get sucked in

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

i dotn care about them because they are normal...it means your hair is knotting up. dreads are made of growing hair and the hair that is shed from that section....so to me its a good thing