I live in an apartment in the city so I have city water. Unsure of the water tank set up but pretty sure nothing has changed since I've started dreading.
I've tried both liquid and bar soaps but
Yeah, I really get in there and scrub the scalp during a wash and I use the handheld showerhead on the highest setting. The problem with washing, though, is I think because there's so much grease/ sebum that it is just running into the dreads and some is staying no matter how much I rinse.
I'm really at a loss for what to do. These have made me happier than I've been in a long time but they're turning into a nightmare. It's such a bummer to watch progress slowly melt away each day and to feel grimy and dirty just hours after a wash.
My face is starting to get really greasy, too, which is annoying as hell.
Thank you so much for spending so much time trying to figure it out with me, though.
Too much sebum/ scalp grease.
@soaring-eagle
7 years ago
29,637 posts
ask the building superviser
i would try the charcoal shampoo that should deep clean it all out good
but ask vicki talk to her about it she might have to figure a custom blend for you..that helps others too
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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
So, things have gotten worse and I think I'm to the point where I just need to accept that I can't have
The photo was just taken after a wash. if I pinch and squeeze them around the top to mid dread this white grease oozes out. I've tried to get it out but the more I mess with it the more they unravel from it. It is insanely thick and never seems to stop. Is there anything
@soaring-eagle
6 years ago
29,637 posts
don't curt yet let me get panterra and vicki to both look at this cause yea i see this is a very unusual rather severe issue
between the 2 vicki and panterra we will find a solution for you
just as a test.. just to be sure
but 2 5 gallon things of distilled or spring water, wash and rinse with that just 1 time.. or ..wash at a friends house (preferably out of town) who knows you might even live in a area with a lot of fracking and thats your scalp under attack from toxic crap you dont want to drink or bathe iin..
so today or 2moro or in next few days do that wash with non native water just to rule that out
ill have panterra and vicki give advice too
--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
@soaring-eagle
6 years ago
29,637 posts
ok both are totally unsure what this is but don't think its sebum mostly oil mixed with lint and dead skin
you never used wax..correct
both think you need to scrub more thouroughly, and rinse rinse rinse while scrubbing and squeezing
whats your scalps health like is it very flakey
any psoriasis or very flaky skin
try washing every 3 days and really scrub well scrub that scalp use nails to scratch at it gently working off all dead skin and oils and rinse like 10 times more then you think you need
--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
@soaring-eagle
6 years ago
29,637 posts
do you sleep on wool pillowcases with wool blankets wrap in towels while damp wear wool tams especialy when damp
panterra believes a big part of its lint and maybe wash more often and more thouroughly
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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
Believe me, it's not lint. I sleep with them wrapped back in a nylon and on black satin pillowcases. I don't think I even own anything wool.
My scalp isn't flakey, either. I don't have dandruff or anything. I keep a check on my scalp and it looks normal. There's no rash or skin flakes or anything except sebum.
I've never put wax in my dreads.
This is sebum/ grease. Trust me. It's a white greasy paste that seeps out of my scalp. It smells like the white sebum you can squeeze out of piercings and stuff like that, although not as strong but still strong enough that I kind of stink a day or so after a wash. My scalp will not stop secreting this stuff since I got dreads and it gets worse and worse no matter what I do.
I've tried using distilled water but it doesn't seem to do much. I definitely scrub the living hell out of my scalp and
This is what's packed in there. It's a ton of sebum that collects around the tops of the dreads that rub against my scalp. This is freshly squeezed out of one of the really bad ones.
@soaring-eagle
6 years ago
29,637 posts
well if that is the case.. and our best experts (panterera is going on 40 years of hair care) can't figure it out i would suggest contacting a dermantologist
there could be a medical reason, or dietary reason for it
ok heres a thought..that might be counter intuitive but worth testing
often the over production of oils is the scalps reacting to constant stripping of the oils causing a panic
try adding a lil bit of jojoba oil to like a gallon of water pour over head when almoist done rinsing
wait 3 min then '1/2 rinse" give it a quick lil spray not to rinse it out but remove excess and spread it through a bit.. you want to leave some in to condition and oil them (don't worry about the roots) the liquid might even be over drying causing this scalp panic reaction. your scalp might be over reacting to the drying sea salt in the liquid
a hit wash will reduce the viscocity of the sebum making it easier to remove but follow that by a freezing cold rinse cold as you can handle for a few minutes this will help close up the pores and maybe prevent some of the overproduction
if adding oils and reducing the drying doesnt cause it to settle down (after a fairly long adjustment period0 i would definitely consider talking to a dermantologuist about why its producing so damn much
i am certain there are herbal ways to reduce sebum production too
whats your job and living situation
you never know what environmental conditions might do to your bodies regulatory functions
--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
I'm not sure mine was exactly this bad(or maybe the dreads just make it look worse)but before I had dreads I had this problem. Like yours there wasn't any flakes but this white paste covering my scalp and stuck to my hair. Especially if I didn't wash my hair at least every three days.
This isn't something I would recommend doing with dreads but I didn't put anything on my head but water for nearly a year and brushed it every day to distribute the oils. It basically allowed my scalp to reset every thing and I haven't had an issue since. Admittedly things were pretty ugly for the first month but it evened out eventually.
Hopefuly you can find a way to fix it without loosing your dreads.
My 2 cents: I had similar issues at the beginning as well. I did not crochet, only light back combing one time. Looking back, I believe it was from using crappy shampoo and hoping to have locs very fast. I tried several types of shampoo at the beginning trying to fix the issue, but nothing seemed to work. Once I found Vicki's shampoo and stopped worrying so much about them, things slowly took a turn for the better. This all didn't happen over night. I started locking going on 4 years now and I would say just in the last 2 years it has been amazing. I had always heard of some going a whole week with out washing and I just couldn't understand that and now I can go a whole week with no problem.
My personal opinion is, you should get one of Vicki's bars, probably the cedar/sage bar, and wash with that every 3 days or so and quit worrying about them so much. The sooner you can forget about dealing with them the better they will take care of themselves. Take it for what its worth, but it worked for me.
I swear, thinking back on it how tough it was for a long time.
Hope this helps and good luck buddy.