Forum Activity for @sissemor

My TnR timeline - update at 25 months

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Oh good!! Could the white stuff be lint?

Are your lumps also very rounded at the tips? How often do you wash?

My TnR timeline - update at 25 months

Member Journals and Timelines

Thanks, both of you I cried at first, actually (because it's not 'just' hair for us, is it), but you know, it's just length - it's not like I had to cut the dreads completely. I still have dreads - better ones at that, seeing they're mold-free - and time has a cure for the length issue

Kristy, you might be on to something. Maybe it is because of tight TnR. What I'd like to know is if this has happened to anyone who went natural from the start. But I'll put that in another post. Did you see any evidence of mold in the piece you cut?

grittyjane, it might be residue but I'm not sure. I have used bs/vinegar throughout the process, so in theory is should have dissolved any residue - lately I've done only bs and no shampoos. But on the other hand, the nature of the lumps may make it impossible to really get in there and dissolve anything. So residue and drainage problems could have resulted in mold. The green thing here is definitely not 'just' residue - there was a little cloud of dust (spores) released when I scratched at it, and a distinct but faint moldy smell. Yuck.

My TnR timeline - update at 25 months

Member Journals and Timelines

Sooo... I've been thinking a lot about whether I should write this, because I know it will freak some of you out. However, I'm sure you'd like to know to prevent something similar happening to you, so here goes:

5 days ago I noticed how one of my dreads was just a big dangling lump when I tied my hair back. You can see what I mean here:

Now, I've never been crazy about the lumps most of my dreads formed, and some of them were just so uncomfortable during sleep that I cut them a few months back, just above the lumps. Above the lumps all dreads are small/medium and look like, well, like real dreads, with bumps and everything, but no lumps.

So I decided to cut this lump too. And then I looked at it and noticed that it had a gray-greenish hue where the cut was made. Horrified I immediately cut the lump in half to see what it looked like on the inside, and here it is:

Mold!!!Now, I should stress that there was NO odour from my hair at all - I could only smell the mold faintly when I scratched at the green areas you see. This freaked me out - I would have thought that you'd be able to smell if there was mold in your dreads :-/

So I talked with my dreaded friend about what to do. As I said, most of my dreads have these lumps at the end, and as far as I can tell they are made up of loops folding up over themselves, instead of knotted hair. They are hard and inflexible and feel nothing like the rest of the dread, and they are around 3-4 times larger in diameter than the dread itself, with rounded tips. Maybe I would have been able to dry them out somehow, but I think it would have been very difficult to get rid of the mold itself, and impossible to be sure it wouldn't reoccur. To me, mold is not just something that smells or is gross. It's a health hazard. It's allergenic and may cause many different symptoms. I know - we had mold in our basement a few years ago, and the kids were affected constantly - the youngest with colds and the eldest with headaches. Not something you'd like in your house, and particularly not something you'd like on your head 24/7!

So I cut them. At first just a few, which I also cut through the lump to look for mold, and they all looked exactly like the one above. Then the rest. I had actually been thinking about cutting them some day, when they'd grown, because I really didn't care for those lumps, but it still felt like shit

So instead of having shorties, I now have ultra-shorties :-/ But at least they're healthy shorties!!

I know I've done some things that would increase the risk of mold. For a short while I washed before bedtime. During the winter months I wore tams after washing when I went out. I put my hair up when wet sometimes to get it out of my face. But as far as I can tell, there was only mold in the dreads that had lumps. The ones without lumps were also rounded at the tips, and I cut a little but of the tips on them too, to open them up - no mold.

So why did I have lumps? Was it because I washed everyday for the first month and had super fast looping progress? Because the loops didn' t have time between washing to work into the dread? Were the giant loops a result of too much rubbing because I washed with shampoo instead of bs/vinegar most of the time? That's a topic for another post, i think, because I'd really like to know if there are others with similar problems.

I want to emphasize that I don't think these lumps were like real knotted dreads. So if someone with phatties were to read this and be alarmed, I just want to say that I'm sure there's nothing concerning about normal phatties! The way dreads knot up should let water drain from them without problems - and this is precisely what I think was the problem with these lumps: they were formed by layers and layers of loops as far as I could tell. That is, loops that weren't sucked in but just stuck in layers. No wonder they didn't drain well :-/

By now I'm used to my ultra shorties and okay about posting pictures so you can see it's not all bad - at least they're healthy and feel wonderful, and as a bonus I can now wear all the beads that wouldn't fit over the lumps!

updated by @sissemor: 07/22/15 05:21:54AM

My TnR timeline - update at 25 months

Member Journals and Timelines

Thanks Yup, they really are very short now But it's okay, because now I have dreads! :-D So the journey will not be about getting to the point where they knot, but about getting to the point where they are long And that's okay.

Well, I washed VERY often at first, because I have psoriasis and had to wash every day to keep it under control. But as soon as they started knotting I was a little worried about mold if they didn't have time to dry between washings, so I washed every two days for a while. Now I can go 3 days between washing, and only do bs+sea salt/vinegar washes. Before I used a homemade shampoo.

My TnR timeline - update at 25 months

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Thanks Yes, I can still tie them back, and I also use headbands a lot. But I have to say I'm looking forward to doing spectacular updo's with long dreads

Yours is probably not completely done shrinking But actually I think most of my shrinkage happened before 4 mo, so perhaps it won't be long!

My TnR timeline - update at 25 months

Member Journals and Timelines

It's been a while since my last post and my dreads are now a) almost mature, and b) short! :-D Pictures first:

Remember, I started out with mid back length hair and now it's about 6", so I think the shrinkage is about 75-80 %. At 5 mo I calculated that if the shrinkage would stay at this percentage as my hair grows, I would have beautiful waist length dreads in 8 years, when I'm 46 But of course it won't keep shrinking 75%, I know.

A few months ago I got a little tired of waiting for the tips to work their way in - most of them were 2" with 10 hairs - so I cut them. It's probably against the rules, I know But I loved the results. Also, some of the thicker tips were a little bit of a concern. Many of my dreads are very lumpy at the bottom, where they looped up on themselves because of TnR, I think, and much thinner where they dreaded as the hair has grown. In fact, a few of them were so big they were uncomfortable to sleep on - one was a ball 1" in diameter, right at the back of my head - so I cut these above the uncomfortable lumps. This means a few of them are very short, but I don't care

I LOVE my dreads They are so ME! I can't explain it better, it just feels more like me than my old straight Scandinavian hair ever did, no matter what fun things I tried to do with it.

My TnR timeline - update at 25 months

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Thanks Yes I know, but not all hair shrinks this much, right? It must be because they are getting rather fat. Had to buy a new bike helmet today, just can't get my head into the old one anymore...

My TnR timeline - update at 25 months

Member Journals and Timelines

Thanks Yes, I didn't know how much they normally shrink, but who cares I mean, of course we all want super long super gorgeous dreads, but I'm trying to learn to be patient (never too old, I hope ). How long was your hair before dreading?

Vates said:

Your dreads are progressing wonderfully its crazy how much they shrink makin me feel like its going to be years before mine get to my sholders lol

updated by @sissemor: 07/22/15 06:33:19AM

My TnR timeline - update at 25 months

Member Journals and Timelines

Thank you Only thing is, I'm afraid to use beads - I fear they will get stuck because they lock up so fast LOL so had to learn peyote stitch to make some sleeves (oh horror - "having to" learn new and exciting crafts ) They work well if I want to attempt to (temporarily) tame some loopyness.And for a while I was a little scared of how fat they seem to get in the middle part. If they all do this, my head will be a sputnik...

NaturalWomyn said:

WOW! *Amazing* Progress and ~*Beautiful*~ Dreads!!!

My TnR timeline - update at 25 months

Member Journals and Timelines

Thanks, SE Could you point me in the direction of his thread? In this subforum, or...?