Matted dreads at the back

Hello I'm new here so i hope i have posted this in the right place!

I've had my dreads nearly 4 months now and i love them, but the back of my head is really messy (messy can be good but this is bad messy). The front and sides look great but i always end up my dreads up as the back is so messy, flat and matted. Even after palm rolling andmaintenancethey look like this.

Is this normal for new dreads, will they get better over time? And does anybody know anything i can do to make them look better?

Any help ismuchlyappreciated!

updated by @alanah: 02/14/15 09:20:10AM

Stop palm rolling. It does nothing. The dreads will round out as they mature. It is common for dreads at the back to form quicker and need more separating, because you spend all night rolling round on them. All you have to do is separate them when they grow together. The rest will take care of itself.

Kelly is completely right. Palm rolling can actually thin out your locs over time. I have some flatties too, if your really concerned about it, beads may help encourage them to be round, but not all beads feel stellar to sleep with. Just keep sectioning and have a happy journey :D

Hi Alanah. The back of the head does get really messy during the dreading process. The back rubs on pillows, car seat rests, backs of couches and scarves & tams rub on that section. When this constant friction happens, a knotted mess is made. Mine was also messy back there, but was the first area to start to really show true dreads, not the original formed twist & rip. I would recommend separating any joined hairs or dreads on a daily basis in this area.

I see that you sometimes use a crochet hook to keep it tidy. Did you know that twist & rip dreads need to loosen, loop and knot to turn into mature dreads. Those loops are necessary, so if you are using the hook, you are reversing the process. Hooks break hairs in the dreads, if you are still using it, you may find that one day dreads will start breaking off into your hand due to the broken hairs. A chain is strong, but have a weak link in it and it becomes weak, same with dreads.

Palm rolling is useless and damaging, you won't see the damage right away, but it happens every time you roll the dreads. You do maintenance and still don't like the look, the only maintenance you need to do is regular washing and separating the dreads, that's it, easy huh! Get use to the messy look for the next few months or stay away from a mirror. Be easy on your dreads and you will have healthy hair for a lifetime.

palm rolling and what maintenance th maintenance you should stop you should embeace the mess 4 months is when they need to be the messiest

let em be

wash and seoerate thats it

as long as you keep em from growing together yoiur fine

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Thank you very much for the reply! That was really helpful, I've read some other posts about crochet hooking aswell now so I'm definitelygoing to stop doing that. I didn'trealisehow bad crocheting and palm rolling is! This site had already been really helpful on what techniques not to use.
I'm going to leave my dreads be and see what happens i guess it's the best way to go
Thanks for theadvice!

the Barrellady said:

Hi Alanah. The back of the head does get really messy during the dreading process. The back rubs on pillows, car seat rests, backs of couches and scarves & tams rub on that section. When this constant friction happens, a knotted mess is made. Mine was also messy back there, but was the first area to start to really show true dreads, not the original formed twist & rip. I would recommend separating any joined hairs or dreads on a daily basis in this area.

I see that you sometimes use a crochet hook to keep it tidy. Did you know that twist & rip dreads need to loosen, loop and knot to turn into mature dreads. Those loops are necessary, so if you are using the hook, you are reversing the process. Hooks break hairs in the dreads, if you are still using it, you may find that one day dreads will start breaking off into your hand due to the broken hairs. A chain is strong, but have a weak link in it and it becomes weak, same with dreads.

Palm rolling is useless and damaging, you won't see the damage right away, but it happens every time you roll the dreads. You do maintenance and still don't like the look, the only maintenance you need to do is regular washing and separating the dreads, that's it, easy huh! Get use to the messy look for the next few months or stay away from a mirror. Be easy on your dreads and you will have healthy hair for a lifetime.

I'm going neglect and I remember the first month the back of my head looked like one big rat's nest! I didn't know if that was normal or if it would ever become dreads but eventually the huge matted mess started sectioning and now that's the most dreaded part of my hair! Just keep seperating and it will work itself out!

You just need to separate.... a friend of mine calls this "popping" LOL I would just grab two dreads and pull them apart..when my dreads were all new and freeform...I thought it was less sensitive when they were wet...

Thank you! I wasn't sure if it was normal for them to be like that but now i see other people have had the same thing. I'll just leave them and see how they go

Randi said:

I'm going neglect and I remember the first month the back of my head looked like one big rat's nest! I didn't know if that was normal or if it would ever become dreads but eventually the huge matted mess started sectioning and now that's the most dreaded part of my hair! Just keep seperating and it will work itself out!

dont fret the big flat ones. those dread the fastest! they made me insecure too. im about 7 1/2 months now and they have pretty much rounded out and whatnot.