this post is inspired by a video i saw on youtube recently, someone who is actualy a member here.
i'm leaving out names and details except related to what was done and the result
what was done to the dreads:
backcomb
bleacing over and over
crochet 1st 5 months (out of 11)
ecxtentions added to increase volume not length
the results
backcomb pried open the cuticles permenantly allowing bleach damage to be more severe and alowing the physical damage and hair breakage from crochet to be more severe as well
11 months in her dreads were shot, falling apart, i dont mean the dreads were comming loose they were falling apart in chunks you could pinch a dread and pull off a chui=unk
she removed the extentions
cut off the most severely damaged parts and was trying to save the rest
while talking to her she said she was aware of the =harm each tyhing she did to them did but tried them to acheive the look she thought she wanted.
luckily at 5 months she losrt the crochet hoo=]k
the bleaching over and over probably was the worse weakening factor.
ok i promiced you info on how to keep dreads healthy, and more info on why its sioo important
and i will try to be thourough
healthy dreads are dreads that underwent the most minumal manipulation to acheive dreads, natural dreads being healthiest since theres little to no manipulation at all
the more force put into dreading the less healthy they will be, this includes the use and over use of most so called dread products ..with the exception of
shampoo or other washing agents
and moisturizers for african or mature dry dreads
manipulations and the damages they cause
backcomb- the damage is typicaly semi moderate very rarely severe the hair shaft is covered in cuticles that are like scales that open and close these are protective and allow moisture penetration or seal the moisture in, react to heat and chemical presence and protect from damage further once these are pried open unable to function the hair is more easily damaged by chemicals heat and physical damage.. in agressive cases hair can be yanked right out i=of the scalp and mangled during agressive backcombing
palm rolling- generaly thought of as useless since it takes excessive palm rolling to have any lasting effect at all, palm rolling when gentle and seldom may not seem very bad, but when used often and more agressivly can cause friction damage as well as tension on the roots weakening the roots. some have even done it to the point of feeling heat within the dreads..thats not a good idea! heat indicates severe friction and breaking down the hairs as they rub
crochet- this causes much more severe problems, its popular because dreads can look very tight and mature in a single day but so many hairs get broken in the process they b=need constant repair which breaks even more hair it also backfires as far as the maturity of the dreads goes the extreme tightness causes them to be stiff and unable to properly dread untill they loosen up alot typicaly this takes 6 months from 1single use..over a year if used often.
twist n rip- this is the gentlest form of manipulation in caucasian types hair though if its agressive cab=n pull hairs out , but if you do it once there should be very lil harm done
twisting dreads- african hair tends to respond well to twisting to initiaye the dreading process..however african peoples have suffered an epidemic of traction alopecia for years due to the extreme tightening of braids, weaves and now dreads. whben you twist dreads the idea is to pull in all the scalp hair very tightly this weakens the roots so they may break, but whats worse the tension on the scalp cause the hair around the dreads to no longer grow! the roots thin more and more you get bald patches around each dread these can even be permenant requiring a hair transplant to fix if the twisting isnt stopped in time
interlocking- interlocking has many of the same problems as twisting does but with an added ciouple the interlock points are much weaker then the rest of the dread with no elasticity they can snap much more easily if yanked it alsio can lead to traction alopecia and dread breakage
felting or the dreaded lock docta- felting nedles (which the lock docta is) are covered in sharp barbs which are designed to shread wool into itty bitty peices and mash that together into a felt when used in hair the effects the same your hairs mangled into peices i[uner 1/8 inch long that are mangled togerher only held in place by the riughly torn up edges this causes an extremely weak fibre often the dreads cant support their own weight and fall off
loose hair tools - see crocheting and felting tools that poke holesin dreads break hairs which creates the loose hairs your fixing it is normal to have loose hairs they belong there dont create more by trtying to have none
rubbing - clockwise or counterclockwise rubbing root rubbing tip rubbing etc .. see the issues with palm rolling but when you root rub you also weaken the roots and risk loss of dreasds
chemical damage cay-uses-
dread perms- dread perms purpose is toi fry and damage the hair permenantly altering the texture to suposedly make it dread easier. dread perms should only be considered if every other option was tried and failed! a last resort desperation act. the dread perm can range from extreme destruction to just a mild alteration of the texdture (but stilo has a relativekly high degre of damage) the \wos=rse id seen was a drad perm over already damaged bleached hair the hair seemed to alnmost dissolve and came off in g=handfulls the resulting "drads" were a few balls of hair hanging from a frwew weak scraggly strands most dread perms arent as severe as this and may result in dreads but the texture will always be off and for that reason most dread perm users end up cutting off the permed parts once the healthier new growth grows in.
chemical bleaches and dyes- any chemical dyes have a risk factor of damage, bleaches even more so and over use can be severely frying to the hair if theres physical damage and chemical damage these add up to create very weak brittle hair if you must color your hair opt for a natural henna or vegatable based dye instead of chemical
dread products-
wax- wax may not cause physical damage to hair right away but it is not good for dreads in any way wax affects the cuticles like backcombing by coating them to the point where even if they are i=undamaged by backcombing they will not open or close and do not function wax also clogs pores and glues hairs togetgher to resemble dreads but prevents the movement needed to actualy dread. but the biggest harm to hair (not dreading cant be called damage ..its not great but for this purpose we are discussing health of the dreads only not wether it just makes hair appear more dreaded while retarding the dreading process) wax can harm hair in severakl ways- in rare cases ir=t can cause hair loss with most of yoyr hair falling out more common wax prevents the hair from ever being clean, water cannot get to the hair which is coated in wax the hair and wax traps doirt abd water its sticky so attracts dirt like a magenet the water with dirt trapped in wax is the perfect environment fir growing molds and mildwews
lock powders like lock peppa- no real harm to hair is known but it also does nothing and is toxic to breath
chemical based shampoos and sls (like in dreadheadhq shampoo) these are harsh dry out the scalp and sls is a ingredient recomended to be avoided by the cancer society sls itself isnt a carcinogen but in the processing a conataminant is a trace mineral in sls this is linked to cancer. additionaly sls may vcause dandruff dermatitis itchy dry scalp and even in some cases hair loss
gels and other dread products- gels are i=unsesasary to dreadintg and can clog pores and buuld up leasding to molds though gels can be used in african hair as moisturizers a pure aloe is a better optu]=ion then any gekls sold for dread use other dread products like the knottyboy tears and sprays may not be too harmful but are not known if they help in any way except itch relief (which wontg be a big issue in realy healthy dreads)
sea salt and accelerators- these are unesaacary at all the sea salt can over dry hair making it brittle it can fry the scalp and become corosive to skin causing scalp u[issues it can be used safelt with sensability do not spray on and leave on for days do not spray on daily always rinse off after letting it soak a few hours at most try to avoid the scalp if posssible
non dread friendly shampoos- when dreads are mature you may be able to get away with reguklar shsmpos and the hair will still dread fine even if conditioned but shampoos generaly leave residues these can build up much like wax or gell and cause mold
how to keep dreadlocks healthy:
1 do not over maintain! the healthierst drads undergo the most bare minumum maintenande and manipulation washing and seperation only
wash your dreads! wash your dreass at very least weekly every other day is grwat too every 2-3 dat=ys is probably the best for the average dread
if your dreads are dry treat them (once mature) use a oil or aloe or moisturizer that is easily removed by just rinsing shae maybe fine in african dreads but may buildup so use with caee honey should be avoided unless mixed and diluted j]heavy oils as well can build up
aloe is safe to use as long as its pure aloe with nothing eklse added (even presservatives) jojoba oil is a great option if used sparingly even olic=ve oil xan be usedd but olive oils lil heavy and easy to over use
soperate dreads as needed anddesired- if you are a rastas or nazarite you may feel seperation is against your belief codes so you may opt to not seperarte and seperation is optional however if your beluiefs permit it heres info on why it maybe desirw]able and healthy to do so-
as dreads congo and get thicker it becomes harder to clean them deep into the core, also it becomes harder to clean the scalp beneath the thick matted roots and ontop of that the thicker the dreasd becomes the longer it taqkes to dry..increasing the possibility of mold some with mono or unidreads tend to be restricted to a very rare washijng cycle due to mold risk they may wash only yearlky then dried thourougjly and treatted with erbs to prevent mold ontop of these issues a massive dread can pull painfully i[]on the scalp as hairs get uneven weight distribution in most cases its not desirable to allow dreads to thicken over an ich. you can, if its your prefference but know that the thicker they get the harder they become to care for
on the other side of things..too thin dreads and thinning spots and roots- just to be thourough having 400 very long dreads can be a pain! tiny dreads can be hard to keep track of and tangle in everything and are yanked on alot. yanking on dreads typicaly doesnt do alot of harm unless its repeatedly yanked on this can cause thinning spots roots can also thin out from many factors like stated above twisting root rubbing interlocking
if you get a weak thin spot in a dread body do not tie a knotr to fix it (or crochet etc) leave it alone! it may fixc itself over time or it may break but if u tie a knot or crochet ..it will break faster! insread u can try wrapping it take the 2 thicker parts on either side of the thin spot shorten them to the point where the weak spot forms a loop and the 2 thicker ends are near eachother wrap the dread lile that so the thin spot dreads and meldas the parts together
if the roots are whats thinning from damage like injterlocking or twistjng
just do not seperate tghem let 2 thin dreadsconf=go and become 1 thincker
in worse shape ones wrap them together or purt the 2 in a bead to force them to grow tigether uualy no force is needed if you donrt seperate in a couple months they fuse
there are other discussions on hair and scalp health dealing with herbs and such so i wont go into that here this should have covered most damage causes and how to avoid them
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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
updated by @soaring-eagle: 01/13/15 09:18:28PM
