New to forum and dreads!

Hey everyone ! Like I said I'm new as it can get. I'm 22 years old and from NC.

I hope I can get a lot from this site as well as contribute perhaps?

Anyway I don't know ANYTHING at all about dreading up. Long story short a buddy of mine twisted my hair up for free. Did this back in June. Well everyone around here has been saying go get them retwisted to lock the new growth in Yada yada .

Well I went to some African hair salon to get them retwisted , btw I am half white and they said my hair was a bit different than most African Americans , implying dreads may be harder for me. But my point is I've been doing a little reading and it seems like getting them retwisted isn't always recommended? Becayse they did twist all the newgrowth in and now the dreads are tight. Not bad like braids and I dont feel any kind of pulling though.

i do know they used some sort of gel and hairspray, which I also read wasn't normal.

So how can. I figure out if my hair is alright and any future tips would be cool.

posting a few pics of it, thanks guys. sorry if the quality is a little weird looking for some reason I could only upload as (gif)..

updated by @swoon: 11/12/15 11:47:28PM

pic 1 looks ok pic 2 shows alot of scalp a lil thinning but no serius balding  however if you continue going to the salon to retwist it can get very severe

this is pretty typical of what salons cause

 

this is far more severe

notice shes sitting in a salon chair having them retwisted!

thats about the worse ive seen

 

a member of this site with healthy nnatural dreads that were never retwisted even once

 

now i would call tye salon ask if any wax was used or if the gel contained wax

how often do you wash and with what

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

okay i appreciate the fast response. Ahhh thats crazy I hope it isnt too late. Cant believe how much misinformation goes on around here in my area. Ive just been using water to wash my hair as I dont have any residue free  shampoo, ahh I feel like such a newbie lol..   I am working on getting some tho8ugh. I usually wash them once or twice a week.

So am I alright though nothing too  bad  as long as theyre left alone? 

heres how they look now after washing them this morning, and I prefer this way actually.. thanks again

 

they look better already  one retwist wont do permenant harm especially since u let em loosen up soon after

you can always trust the info on this site to be the most reiable

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

As Soaring Eagle said, is is a great thing that you managed to steer away from that. Light twisting out of boredom is okay, but putting too much stress on your scalp WILL make you bald. I have no clue why, but for some reason, us black folk are always told by our elders "MMM BABY YOU NEED TO RETWIST THAT". My sister is a loctician herself.

they are made to believe that is neat and tidy and maintained  the more over maintained they are the more praise locticians give them (and the more money they make funny how that works out) the more neat and "acceptible' they think they are

funny thing they say you look dirty if you dont yet they wash 1/10th as often or less  some only once a year so they dont always have that no frizz look

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
updated by @soaring-eagle: 11/19/15 12:34:59PM