What must I do? - small knots in 4a/b natural hair

[ThursdayGirl]

Do I have to carry scissors with me? I keep finding these knots at the ends of my hair. They aren't big usually they are made up of anywhere from 2-4 hairs. I can't pick them apart, so I'm cutting them...but how will I ever get to my long hair goal if I keep cutting all over the place? I try keeping my hair moist/conditioned/oiled. I cut the rest of the relaxer off a few weeks ago and I am using good conditioners (Elucence MBC and the Suave knock-off of humectress primarily).

What am I doing wrong? How can I get past this stage?

 

[tropicexotic]

Congrats on your big chop!! I think knots are definitely a part of being natural, some ppl get them more than others but coily hair is inevitably going to coil around itself and knot up...especially in "out" styles like puffs, fros etc. I like to think my coils love each other so much they knot up around each other to stay together forever...lol but that's just to keep me patient at times when what I really want is to rip the stupid knotting strands apart.

The biggest way that I minimize knots is by wearing protective styles, twists, braids, flat twists etc...but sometimes I just want a pretty fro or puff so I'm experimenting with different techniques. One way is braiding or twisting your hair up at night if it is long enough to do this, that way it's not tangling while you're sleeping. Another is simply combing through and detangling well with every wash and using a thick oil like castor oil on the ends. I've heard someone on here post that using BBD stretch stopped their hair from knotting, so if you have the money that might be worth a try. Another thing, is just using a good detangler to comb out regularly and lots of ppl swear by kiddie detanglers, commercial or natural ones (Oyin's Gregs Juice and Qhemet Biologics Olive detangler come to mind). I hope others chime in with advice as well! Good luck, and happy hair growing!!

 

[honeycomb719]

Good question I have the same problem. I usual just cut them.

 

[chocolate01]

Congrats on your big chop!! I think knots are definitely a part of being natural, some ppl get them more than others but coily hair is inevitably going to coil around itself and knot up...especially in "out" styles like puffs, fros etc. I like to think my coils love each other so much they knot up around each other to stay together forever...lol but that's just to keep me patient at times when what I really want is to rip the stupid knotting strands apart.

The biggest way that I minimize knots is by wearing protective styles, twists, braids, flat twists etc...but sometimes I just want a pretty fro or puff so I'm experimenting with different techniques. One way is braiding or twisting your hair up at night if it is long enough to do this, that way it's not tangling while you're sleeping. Another is simply combing through and detangling well with every wash and using a thick oil like castor oil on the ends. I've heard someone on here post that using BBD stretch stopped their hair from knotting, so if you have the money that might be worth a try. Another thing, is just using a good detangler to comb out regularly and lots of ppl swear by kiddie detanglers, commercial or natural ones (Oyin's Gregs Juice and Qhemet Biologics Olive detangler come to mind). I hope others chime in with advice as well! Good luck, and happy hair growing!!

I agree with this. I usually wear my hair in twists and don't really experience knots that much. When I wear puffs I always braid it up at night.

 

[caligirl]

Take it from me, I used to get DRED LOCKS in my hair when I first started transitioning. What I do now is deep condition with Kenra Moisturizing Conditioner (sit under dryer with plastic cap for 15 minutes). Then after rinsing I divide my hair into about 8 sections on each side of my head. To each section, I apply Herbal Essences Replenishing Conditioner then gently pick thru the section with the K Cutter then brush thru with a denman d3 brush to get the section really smooth and tangle free. Then I braid it up and let it dry. The next day I unbraid and fluff. I NEVER get locks or knots in my hair anymore.

 

[ThursdayGirl]

I was just thinking about getting a Denman... and was thinking about going back to Kenra Moisturizing Conditioner. I'm not a big fan of non-loose hair... but maybe I will try wearing twists for awhile.

 

[jwhitley6]

I've been getting knots too, and I just cut them. My knots are more so at the ends of individual strands rather than multiple strands knotted together. I've noticed it more now thar my hair is longer, but not so much with my usual neck length blunt cuts.

 

[SweetCaramel1]

i'm in knot city too. i don't know if it's from stretching or not, but i never noticed them before. i just clip and go

 

[Lovelylocs]

Do you wash your hair in sections? How much time do u spend trying to get the knots out? I would just spend a lot more time trying to get the knots out. But I would do smthg like that just to save one single strand.

 

[Twisties]

I used to get more knots than I do now. I started clipping a tiny bit of the the tips of my twists before taking them down...it's not taking off a lot of hair, but I think these knots comes from needing a trim and moisture.

Also, I think the difference is more deep conditioning and combing my hair with a wide tooth comb while doing the deep condition and then rinsing(instead of doing condition, rinsing and THEN trying to comb it). When done with risining conditioner, apply detangler AND moisturizer to hair an comb through--then style.

 

[ThursdayGirl]

Congrats on your big chop!!

Thanks!