so do we have any info on what happens to our hair structure over long periods of time like 10+ years of still being attached to our heads or stuck in a dread? I have some friends who have had natural dreads for many years and have experienced breakage, not at the scalp but at the bottom of the dread. what can we do to avoid this, or is there anything?
updated by @naturalwomyn: 07/13/15 12:07:51PM
dread strength and dread weakness
thats what i get and thats what i touched on about stress damage most likely sitting on the ends stuff like that standing yup whith them caught on a chaircar doorsofcourse some ppl claim that they reach a terminal lenhgth then start to fall off on the ends but i believe that has got top be due yop stresses put in them by livingi see ppl with 10-15 foot dreads or longer although they do go to extreme lengrths to protect them and support themlike jah levi wraps his around his waist like a belt so they dont dragthat can prevent the stresses u get from everyday wear and tearthat brings up another pointinterlocking can cause dreads to break at the scalp so can twisting or anything that stresses the rootsnatural dreads tend to break near the ends where they get caught in bike wheels or sat oncrochet ofr felting can be anywhereroots are most easily weakened tho
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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
the backcombing dammage is all along the shaft at a microscopic level but it only causes visable damage at the ends all the cuticle damage makes the shat weaker and more likely to split at the ends like u see
RebelBasshead said:
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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
RebelBasshead said:
tnr has been a great success for my hair type so far
after getting a good start on a lock you can leave slack in the hairs so they don't pull and start to hurt.
also wanted to add--i actually just backcombed my ends because the tnr gets hard to do with hardly any left and i already regret it. made them feel/look completely different and you should see how damaged my ends are now from as little as 2 inches of backcombing. however, my ends weren't strong to begin with
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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
Ok may i add my comment. :P 1st off i had really long hair and my hair was so damaged from the sun that it started to fall out,and break off and was weak. My friend Billy (she is also on here) said for me to dread my hair and it might help the problem i have(with the weakness). well, i did. i did the twist and rip. i lost LESS hair doing that then waiting on my hair to dread on its on.(cause my hair falling out)i also did the backcomb on 2 of them.my hair is strong now and the 2 i backcombed well lets just say i have a bald spot.(i wear a tam to hide that, but my hair is going back there..lol)my hair never would dread on its on, 6 months i waited for it to start something.so the more damaged your hair is the more knots it makes. NOT. my hair did not knot at all. a hair stylist took me that my hair was to damaged to repair and at my age it could not be done. (she pissed me off)anyway, NOW, i can say my hair is healthier than it has been in years. (with all the ess.oils i use and the baking soda) i am not losing hair and it is strong and fluffy, i even have my childern dreading their hair.( Hell, i even have my mom using baking soda and the oils instead of shmapoo. My mom is older and she is losing less hair and the gray is leaveing her hair. and she is not dreading)everyones hair is different and no matter what you do to your hair something is going to damage it. the air, the shampoo, the sun, the water, the stress you do to it. ect.the point is, you want your dreads to last a lifetime, so use the method that you want to ( less damage to your hair the better) so you can have the most beautiful dreads that you can have.i just wanted to tell my experience.thank you for listening to me ramble.
Yes, this is a good discussion! Lol, why doesn't Johnny Clean talk about taking care to not damage the dreads you're working so hard on? Maybe because wax is moldable??? :P Nah, but seriously, you all bring up a great series of points... not many people are aware of the damage their hair takes during daily living (until you bleach it to the point it's going crazy... not mentioning names *cough* me at 18 *cough*) and with dreads it would only make sense that one needs to take extra care to not damage them since, well, a whole dread is a lot harder to grow back in than a few hairs!!! By the way, I think we REALLY should get pictures of hair from the different types of dread methods under a microscope!!! The idea of being able to see them side to side to compare them intrigues me! However, I won't be the one to volunteer since, lol, I'm a chicken... 
I WILL. that would be cool to see...lol :P
Wow, great discussion everyone! Very informative! Thanks for the info SE and to everyone who has commented! :D
