My babies are dreading at the root!

i know. they're just so big. it makes it hard to pull my hair back and such. i really hope they suck in a bit soon.

soaring eagle said:

thats it dreasding

updated by @heather: 07/23/15 04:25:39PM

Mines doing that too on some of them. It's a little disconcerting because they have skinny tails coming out of them and it looks a little funky but I figure given a few years it won't even matter!

Heather said:

lucky you. mine is doing this weird flat paddle zig zag thing near the roots. it sucks.

On your ends or by your roots? I'm talking about my roots. I have zigzags with tails all over on my ends too but those don't bother me.

Tied up in knots said:

Mines doing that too on some of them. It's a little disconcerting because they have skinny tails coming out of them and it looks a little funky but I figure given a few years it won't even matter!

Heather said:

lucky you. mine is doing this weird flat paddle zig zag thing near the roots. it sucks.

I have tons on the ends but I was talking about the roots. There aren't many but there are some that are very wide at the roots and it makes it kind of awkward to pull my hair back in certain ways. I'm going to give it a while though before I resort to wrapping them to try and get them to pull in. There's only one that's really worrying me though but only because it likes to really eat other hair. I think that's why it's so wide, all the separating I do around it.

I forgot to ask Heather, are your root zigzags tight or loose? The one I'm concerned about is a wide, loose one but a couple of my roots have rather tight ones though they are smaller. Thinking about it the one I'm worried about is probably the least of my worries!I tried to get pictures but you just can't see it with my camera. The zigzags just look like the rest of the roots. :/

Yeah. Mine too! That's what I mean by dreading. I want mine zig zaggy so it's a good thing for me. Before, they weren't even zig-zagging it was just straight loose hair.

Heather said:

lucky you. mine is doing this weird flat paddle zig zag thing near the roots. it sucks.

they're loose. here's a picture of my worst offender. it wouldn't bother me so much if it was in the back but its right in the front so it makes it hard to pull my hair back.

Tied up in knots said:

I forgot to ask Heather, are your root zigzags tight or loose? The one I'm concerned about is a wide, loose one but a couple of my roots have rather tight ones though they are smaller. Thinking about it the one I'm worried about is probably the least of my worries!

I tried to get pictures but you just can't see it with my camera. The zigzags just look like the rest of the roots. :/

updated by @heather: 02/05/15 10:12:49AM

my roots do that sometimes. I have a crazy one on the crown of my head right now.

root rubbing can break the hairs off at the root because of the friction. It is a bad idea. The crazy knots at the root will tighten up by itself..it just takes time.

I may get flamed for this.... BUT I did root rub or clockwise rublast time around and I am doing it here and there again. It is not obsessively done or roughly done. And I can say for a fact it DOES help. Again my 4 yr old dreads are proof of that. If you do it gentle there is not much difference then say wearing a tam or something that rubs on them.

I have been keeping it to myself that I am doing this again because I am sure it is pretty looked down on here. But from past experience when I DIDN'T do it for too long my dreads would start to grow out too much and lose some of their nice round shape that they had. Considering your hair keeps growing you are not continuelly putting strain on the same spot of hair. The parts that were at your roots will obviously move and you well be rubbing a new growth. It is not damage causing at all if you are gentle anyway.

I bet if you try just for an experiment with that one dread it would help a little. AllI do is grab (gently, more like a pinch with my fingers)the dread about an inch or 2 from the scalp and rub gently in a circular motion in one direction for a few seconds (not even a min) and then go in the opposite direction with the same thing. The thicker the dread the more receptive it will be to this. The thicker dreads respond really well to it and I suspect it is why I am feeling like mine are starting to dread already. That one you have there looks like the perfect size for it as well!