Hair in the back area is damaged: thinking of trimming.

[daredevil14]

Hey there,

I am a guy with shoulder-length wavy/curly hair, I've been growing up my hair for like 2 years and a half now, I am facing a very specific issue: the hair in my back/neck/inside area is really frizzy and looks like a nest! Despite everything I've done (CO-wash, conditioner only, silicone-free...) and many products I used, such hair doesn't seem to be "treated", rest of my hair is perfectly fine and is pretty curly, I only comb when soaking wet with conditioner in the shower. If I wear my hair down, this area is hidden and everything seems to look good, however when wearing it in a ponytail (I have to do this at work), the damaged nest-like area is clearly visible and is annoying!

Now when my hair is fully wet, the healthy hair strands are totally wet and form large singled-strands of hair, however the frizzy area can be clearly distinguished as the hair doesn't "go" together and it may look/feel dry even when wet and often is annoying when combing! Now I can easily separate the damaged strands of hair from the healthy ones, I had this idea of grouping all the damaged hair intro one large strand and trim it from its root (back of my head), however I am really worried if, by doing this, I will be ruining my hair and giving it a weird look, not to mention taking off some size (not length, since my healthy ends are the longest ones)

Any feedback is much appreciated! :)

[melusine963]

I would try using some oil as a leave-in conditioner. I use coconut oil, and it works great to moisturise my dry, frizzy hair. It's also a great leave-in detangler.

[Raging Wolf]

I personally would not comb my hair in the shower, because your hair is at its weekest when it is wet and you can create more damage to your hair that way. I learned that lesson myself the hard way. I would suggest that you trim the area that is really frizzy about a half inch to start and use 3 to 5 drops of a good quality oil in your hands and rub your hands together and gently from your ears down distribute the oil down the length of your hair to protect it from further damage. I always oil the length of my hair when I get out of the shower and wait about 30 minutes before I run my wide tooth wooden comb through it. The oils make it easier to comb and little to no damage to my hair. Plus the value added to oils in my length have meant less, less splits equal less trims and more length.

[Zindell]

Have you tried a Tangle Teezer (http://tangleteezer.com/)? :)

[daredevil14]

Thank you all for the replies. Actually I used some coconut oil leave-in conditioner but in the past when I had a relatively short hair (chin level), I can't judge if it was good because I had short hair (it wasn't curly at all back then; curls started to show with length)

So now I think I am gonna buy a coconut oil leave-in conditioner, but is it a problem if it contains a -cone? You know, I stopped the CO-wash only and now regularly washing with a sulfate shampoo because my hair really started to annoy me and became oily. I am also living in a very hot/humid environment.

[melusine963]

Why not use pure coconut oil, rather than a special coconut oil conditioner? It would be a lot cheaper, and completely cone-free. I got mine in a big jar at a health-food shop for about £7 ($10-ish). It is solid at room temperature, so I take a little fingernail scraping, rub it between my palms to melt it, and then smoothe it through and over my hair. A little goes a very, very long way. If you have problems with greasies, I recommend only applying it from your chin down and on the problem area at your nape. The rest of the hair near your scalp should already be getting plenty of oil from your scalp, so no need to add more.

Coconut oil is one of the few oils that soaks into your hair shaft, rather than just sitting on the surface. Because I'm paranoid about greasy hair, I usually apply a little bit one day, wait for it to soak in completely, and then apply a little bit more if needed the next day. This keeps my hair moisturised and tangle free, without weighing it down too much.

ETA: The oil I use is 100% pure coconut oil that you could use for cooking with. Other kinds come with fragrance and chemicals added, which I'd rather avoid.

[jacqueline101]

I'd use argon oil and a leave in conditioner if that doesn't work you could micro tri
and maintain until the damage has grown out.

[jeanniet]

I personally would not comb my hair in the shower, because your hair is at its weekest when it is wet and you can create more damage to your hair that way. I learned that lesson myself the hard way. I would suggest that you trim the area that is really frizzy about a half inch to start and use 3 to 5 drops of a good quality oil in your hands and rub your hands together and gently from your ears down distribute the oil down the length of your hair to protect it from further damage. I always oil the length of my hair when I get out of the shower and wait about 30 minutes before I run my wide tooth wooden comb through it. The oils make it easier to comb and little to no damage to my hair. Plus the value added to oils in my length have meant less, less splits equal less trims and more length.

Combing with conditioner in the shower is pretty standard for curly hair, which tends to be weakest when dry. The trick is to make sure it's saturated with conditioner.

daredevil14, if I'm understanding right, the problem is with the hair underneath? I have this issue as well. I think it's mostly because that area gets the most friction against collars, etc. It's mostly just my neck area because I keep my hair up most of the time. I agree that using an oil will help that area look better, and protect it somewhat. I don't think I'd trim it back because you're probably just going to have the same problem again, so protecting it as much as possible is probably the best you can do.

[teal]

daredevil14, if I'm understanding right, the problem is with the hair underneath? I have this issue as well. I think it's mostly because that area gets the most friction against collars, etc. It's mostly just my neck area because I keep my hair up most of the time. I agree that using an oil will help that area look better, and protect it somewhat. I don't think I'd trim it back because you're probably just going to have the same problem again, so protecting it as much as possible is probably the best you can do.

This is what I was thinking. Also, how do you wear your hair when you sleep? It could be the pillow contributing to the problem. I got a couple of white satin pillowcases.

[spidermom]

You could try oiling and braiding the hair in that area, then incorporating the braid into your ponytail.

I've got an area behind each ear that gets really poofy and reminds me of steel wool when I brush my hair, but it's because I disturbed the curl pattern by brushing, not because there's anything wrong with the hair in that location.

[woolyleprechaun]

I've got a nest area :P Is it possible that the underside of your ponytail pulls too hard? That can cause underneath damage, in my experience. I soak my nest in coconut or almond oil routinely (you can't really even notice, as its either hidden the hair or tied into an updo)

[lapushka]

Seconding, and repeating Zindell's suggestion for a Tangle Teezer.

[WaitingSoLong]

I think Spidermom's suggestion is excellent. I was going to suggest twisting that section a bit to keep it tamer before incorporating it into the ponytail. Is it too short to stay in the tail?

I know I have read near-identical issues on this forum before, like they just had a weird hair-type in one area of the head or something. I have nape waves in the area you speak of, but not the issue you have.

I also agree it could be a friction-induced damaged area. Ponytail holders (no metal on elastics!) can do this, collars as mentioned, coats...

[GoldenSilk]

I have a weird area too at the back of my neck. It tangles a lot, won't clump when I wear my hair wavy, and gets crimps and Z-shapes in it that are hard to smooth out.

I think mine is caused by that area getting tangled while I sleep and not completely detangled, leading to knots and damage. Sometimes I'll have to cut out a whole chunk when it gets too knotted.

I don't have many suggestions, other than maybe paying extra attention to detangling that area in the shower, especially with a Tangle Teezer? That's helped me. I should try the other ideas from this thread! Braiding or twisting it separately from the rest of my hair may help prevent the night tangles...

[daredevil14]

Thank you all for your kind replies!

Regarding how I sleep at night, I usually just "put" all the length on the pillow behind my head so that it doesn't annoy me and it doesn't "twist" with the pillow, cover, etc... I think that this can cause some frizzy hair.

Now what I've done in the past 2 days enhanced the hair a lot! I've never done or even thought of doing this before and it worked and managed to improve that area for like 70%! (Weird! Because I do that during showers but with all the hair). What I did is that before sleeping and after waking up, I managed to gather 2 strands of frizzy/damaged hair and then separately apply a tiny bit of conditioner while braiding (actually just rolling) each strand and then simply wash the conditioner out and just comb them! When I woke up, they weren't THAT frizzy as before, and after repeating the same routine in the morning, the ponytail looked way way better at work and most of the frizz was calmed down, I can still manage to find some "rough" areas though but the nest-like area was pretty much calmed down.

So maybe this is the best routine to do? Except that I have to replace the conditioner (which is a washing-out one which I use during showers) with a leave-in coconut oil one right?

Appreciating your replies as usual. :)

[GoldenSilk]

That's awesome! Since the conditioner helped that much, it might just be extra dry and need more moisture... Which means it can be fixed and doesn't have to get cut off. :)

You can use regular washing-out conditioner as a leave in, as long as you use a small portion. (Think dime sized to start, and adjust up or down depending on what works for you.) Coconut oil by itself isn't a leave in conditioner, but an oil. It will make your hair slippery and protect it more than conditioner, but it's not as moisturizing. I use both leave in conditioner (mine is my regular conditioner diluted in a spray bottle with water, so I can get it on evenly) and an oil after every wash.

Since applying the conditioner overnight helped a lot more than using conditioner in the shower, maybe the nest needs deep treatments to have enough time to get moisturized... Maybe an even more moisturizing deep treatment would help, like an SMT (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=128)?

[teal]

Technically you don't "have" to do anything! ;) Haha!

Yes, I personally would probably replace the conditioner with an oil, but that's because I like oils and don't like leaving conditioners in my hair. The latter just doesn't jive with my hair's personality. But, if leaving conditioner on works for you and you try oils and they don't work as well or whatever, then leave the conditioner in.

Also, I'd pick up a satin pillowcase. I got mine cheap at Walmart - they came in a pack of two. Probably not super high on the list for quality et al, but does the trick and doesn't break the bank. If you find you don't like them on your pillow and you or a friend are handy with a sewing machine, you could refit them into manly sleep caps. (That is not an oxymoron.)