Neck pain while hennaing

[stephanie6211]

Do any of you long time henna-ers have any tips for eliminating the horrible pain in my neck while I henna? My hair is super thick and nearing waist length, and by the time I smush all the mud into my hair, I swear it weighs about a ton. Currently, I do a sloppy English braid, then sort of fold it up so that its fairly even against my head (ie: no massive bun adding extra weight) and even that results in a ton of pressure to the back of my head. Add the fact that I leave my henna in for around 5 hours, it adds up to one sore neck and head. Any advice would be appreciated :o

[paisley]

Hi! First of all, I'd like to say that the pain is not dangerous. No need to worry. To relieve the pain, you can take the opportunity to train your deep neck muscles! They work in the opposite direction of the gravity of the hair on the neck, and stretches the often sore posterior head muscles.

Keep your face pointing forwards all the time, and SLOWLY do a small nod so that your chin goes down towards the chest a couple of millimeters. Feel the deep muscles on the front of your neck tensing, without much force.Do not bend your face down, only your chin. This will train your deep neck musculature and give some blood circulation in the area. I do this whenever I feel tired in the neck area.

[browneyedsusan]

My knee-jerk reaction, is to just do the roots?

My hair is MUCH shorter, but I've dealt with that pain a few times. It doesn't always bother, but sometimes it does--probably when I keep wrapping towels around my head if it's too drippy...-- Before you henna, go build a "nest". Gather up a good book, magazines, laptop, a bunch of pillows, a bunch of old towels--to drape under your head/neck; or rent some movies and build your nest in front of the TV. After the mud is on your hair, go lay in your nest. Arrange the pillows to conform to the shape of your neck and giant head, drape the old towels over, and rest and relax for a few hours. (I hennaed once while we were getting our roof replaced. I took an Excedrin PM to combat the neck pain and threatening migraine from the roofing commotion, and retreated to the basement. It came out great.) Good luck!

[stephanie6211]

My knee-jerk reaction, is to just do the roots?

I've definitely considered that, but I have some bleach damage that tends to fade between henna applications, so I wind up having to do all of it to keep it even. That, and I'm terrified of the dreaded demarcation line.. :eek:
Both great suggestions, I guess I'll just have to hunker down and make myself as comfy an possible. :D

[Bagginslover]

Have you tried applying it and bunning as you go? Smaller buns positioned all over your head will distribute the weight far better than one large one, and better than a single braid (how do you manage to braid with mud in?! I can barely bun!!)

[stephanie6211]

Have you tried applying it and bunning as you go? Smaller buns positioned all over your head will distribute the weight far better than one large one, and better than a single braid (how do you manage to braid with mud in?! I can barely bun!!)

That's actually a brilliant idea! I'll have to try that next time. As for the braiding, that term should be used loosely. It's more like a couple globby passes until its in a more or less braid-like shape :D

[Wiggy Stardust]

I used to lie down (after being safely wrapped up). No neck stress.

[stephanie6211]

I used to lie down (after being safely wrapped up). No neck stress.

That would probably be the most logical solution, haha. My only issue there is that I tend to doze off if I'm laying in one position for 5 hours, and for some reason whenever I fall asleep with henna on my head I wake up horribly nauseated :/
That, and I tend to make my henna days into henna/cleaning days, so I'm usually up and about.

[Scarlet_Heart]

My knee-jerk reaction, is to just do the roots?

My hair is MUCH shorter, but I've dealt with that pain a few times. It doesn't always bother, but sometimes it does--probably when I keep wrapping towels around my head if it's too drippy...-- Before you henna, go build a "nest". Gather up a good book, magazines, laptop, a bunch of pillows, a bunch of old towels--to drape under your head/neck; or rent some movies and build your nest in front of the TV. After the mud is on your hair, go lay in your nest. Arrange the pillows to conform to the shape of your neck and giant head, drape the old towels over, and rest and relax for a few hours. (I hennaed once while we were getting our roof replaced. I took an Excedrin PM to combat the neck pain and threatening migraine from the roofing commotion, and retreated to the basement. It came out great.) Good luck!

I love the "nest" idea! That sounds so nice and I wish I would have done that previous years that I've been hennaing. Now I have a wee little baby (7 weeks old) and cannot do it. I do two plastic caps, a turbi twist, and a terry cloth headband. And what's hurting me isn't my neck (yep I have henna on right now) it's my ears! Being that wrapped up is putting a lot of pressure on my ears and they hurt. But the terry headband is a little short so I have to get it on there tight (I have a big head, lol). And I can't leave my ears out or else my baby hairs won't be hennaed. #FirstWorldProblems

[teal]

My hair isn't as thick as yours, but the first time I hennaed I had the hair towards the back like you describe, the balance was off and I ended up with a headache. My solution was to put it directly on top of my head. Sounds obvious, I know. Haha! Anyway, what I do is section the hair into 6-8 loose braids, do roots then mush the remaining henna (with conditioner, though it's too strong to be considered a gloss) into the braids, and as I do each braid I put it on top of my head, forming what is basically a hair disc, ie very flat and wide bun. So the first braid would be at the middle, wrap the next around that and so on. Then wrap it up with plastic wrap, stick a touque on top (keeps it both warm and in place) and then I prefer to sleep.

If your hair is quite heavy then housework or anything that would force you to angle your neck may cause you pain. You're adding a bunch of weight to your head, after all. You might have to walk like a geisha when you're hennaing! :) Incidentally the headpieces the geishas wear can be hefty. My friend's wife wore one for their wedding, along with the kimono, and told me about it. Maybe that's why they move so distinctly in the first place.

[maborosi]

Have you tried applying it and bunning as you go? Smaller buns positioned all over your head will distribute the weight far better than one large one, and better than a single braid (how do you manage to braid with mud in?! I can barely bun!!)

I do this and it totally works for both my henna and full-head cassia applications.

~maborosi~