Traction Alopecia HELP
Help! Save My Dreads
Sorry that it has taken me a minute to reply. Soaring Eagle has given you good advice. I can not stress enough that you MUST shampoo at minimum once a week...I prefer you do two. You need to thoroughly scrub your scalp. I want you to use the pads of your fingers, not the fingernails. It is extremely important that you clean the entire scalp thoroughly. Proceed with your shampoo by squeezing the shampoo through the dreads from top to bottom. After the entire scalp and dreads have been soaped, rinse extremely well. Even when you think you are completely soap free, rinse everything one more time. Squeeze the dreads, soak with water and squeeze some more. Clean dreads should not stink or smell like a dirty towel or a wet dog. One of the most damaging things you can do is to neglect cleansing your scalp and hair. Most member who encounter serious problems, will find that it stems from dirty hair and laziness concerning shampooing. I know you saw the video about massage. And yes, that is my voice and my demonstration. Please, use massage as instructed...it is a valuable tool to increase blood flow.A healthy blood flow is essential. Taking a Biotin supplement is also very helpful, especially if the hair has lost elasticity and strength. Stopping wearing your hair up is also extremely important at this stage in your recovery. You want to eliminate any further tension on your scalp. Another thing that I suggest is the use of coconut milk. You can generally find it in a can in most supermarkets. It can be found in the ethnic food aisle or sometimes with sweetened, condensed milk that is used to make baked goods. You want the coconut milk to be unsweetened. Do not confuse this with coconut milk in a carton, and used as an alternative to cows milk. You want true, unsweetened coconut milk in a can. You will have to buy a few cans. They shouldn't be too expensive. Every couple of weeks, I want you to shampoo your hair as instructed and after it is clean, saturate your hair with the coconut milk. Wrap everything in a towel and leave it for about an hour. Coconut milk contains healthy essential fatty acids and will help your hair get stronger. It is a conditioning agent, which can loosen some dreads. But, given that yours are 20 years old...you have nothing to worry about. That is about it for the time being. I would like update pictures in 6-8 weeks. This is going to be a long process...but I have helped people who were much worst. Please don't stress, although this situation is not ideal...we are not giving up yet! Thanks for waiting on me...the move was pretty brutal.