Fairy knot Debate/ Dilemma

[oddelabop]

Right, I know there is a thread about what these things actually are - but I am going to take this a little bit further and slightly more personal.

So I was casually pootling along getting ready for bed this evening when *BAM* I see this really really fine comb (you know the ones that hair dressers use) in the bathroom... Was probably mums. Anyway, I digress, I decided to comb through my hair with it and i kept hearing this little *snap* sound at various points and it would pull on individual strands.

So it turns out the pulling is where it reaches a *Fairy Knot*. So, I whack out the ole hair scissors, and start chopping away at all the knots i can find... so 20.. strands later Im getting rather annoyed. So ive stopped, put ,my hair into braids and come onto LHC to calm down.

Now this worries me. I thought my hair was rather quite healthy, and this has totally bummed me out. I just was completely oblivious to how many of these I had until I used that EVIL little comb :(

Should I continue chopping away at the strands? Or what should I do? Has anyone else experienced lots and lots of the blighters? Or do you just not search for them?

Reckon I should forget about them? After finding them I literally feel like shaving my head :( It is quite depressing.

All your wonderful advise is greatly appreciated as always :)

[trolleypup]

*shrug* Fairy knots happen, either clip them out like S&D when you find them or let them be, they will break off and turn into split ends soon enough.

[oddelabop]

How frequently would you say you find them and what do you do with them?

[martyna_22]

It's been happening more often since my hair's longer. So I'd say you'll encounter these now and then. I personally cut them off like split ends, and after doing so for a while I don't see as many of them as I used to.

[oddelabop]

Thanks for your response, I guess I'll just tackle them when I come across them but I won't actively seek them out because it stresses me out too much! I guess I wasn't expecting to find anything like that!

[Leeloo]

I guess it’ll happen more the longer hair gets.

[see_turtle]

Meh, I get these a lot as I have fine hair and I sometimes try to undo them but usually just leave them alone.

[BlondeWavyGal]

Theres always gonna be those tiny annoying knots. Best to do what you can to remove them and forget about them.

[ravenreed]

I think they are the offending hair in a tangle. When you pull all the other hairs out of a tangle, the original twisty, grabby one ends up a fairy knot, IMO. I think the best approach is to try to reduce tangles overall. I also snip mine because any hairs that can make more tangles will lead to more fairy knots/split ends.

[Lunadriael]

I just can't get rid of them, it's awful. I find so many and I shed like a wildebeest, so I really can't fathom why I'm not bald.... sigh.

[jeanniet]

Stop combing, haha. Seriously, I went curly girl and stopped combing except in the shower, and presto! No more knots. Not sure why, but they're gone. It probably has to do with keeping my curls intact so individual hairs don't go wandering off to get into trouble as much.

[Tangle or Curl?]

I find a few of them a day. More show up if I comb/detangle too regularly. I cut them out. They make tangles, and split ends. Also they feel icky and scratchy when I run my fingers over them. The comb you found is probably a lice comb, meant to scrape the eggs off the hairs.

[Sharysa]

I just deal with them and snip them out, because functionally they act like split ends--they catch on the rest of my hair, which is already coarse and grabby, and often they'll do more damage to the hairs around them if I don't cut them.

[spidermom]

I snip those off when I find them, which isn't very often. My hair is more prone to splitting than knotting.

[trolleypup]

How often? I find one once or twice a week when detangling, so much less than splits, but then, my hair is too coarse to get many fairy knots.

Otherwise, same advice as others. Don't stress, just cut them out if you find them. You have about a 100000 hairs on your head, so the percentage is tiny!

[GRU]

I think they are the offending hair in a tangle. When you pull all the other hairs out of a tangle, the original twisty, grabby one ends up a fairy knot, IMO. I think the best approach is to try to reduce tangles overall. I also snip mine because any hairs that can make more tangles will lead to more fairy knots/split ends.

This -- I always snip them out when I find them, b/c they are more likely to cause other tangles/knots.

[oddelabop]

I do think the comb I was using was probably a nit comb haha. So normally I wouldn't find any, it's just because I was using this blooming comb and its made me paranoid! I think I may try an aphogee two step protein treatment. It thickens out the strands and seems to calm things down on my head :(

[ladylowtide]

I have found one fairy knot. I plucked it right out of my head. Not sure how it got there it was super close to the root too. I think if I had endemic fairyknots I might try and undo them with oil and needle, provided they were far enough down I could work on them.

[Vivalagina]

I get them all the time, much more than regular splits. My hair is fine and wavy and the ends curl in all directions. I just cut out about dozen of them last night. They seem to be more prevalent in my old highlights that I am growing out. I don't worry too much though... As long as I detangle my hair gently and keep it secured in a bun or braid, they aren't that troublesome.

[jextxadore]

I think you should S&D then start oiling your ends more (I've had fewer and fewer ever since I started oiling almost-daily).

[oddelabop]

I always oil my hair... Always, have done for years. The highlight thing makes sense... Although my sister has the same texture as me but bleaches her hair to damnation. I tried running the same comb through her hair and she had knots but not as many it seemed.... I'm wondering that because I have much longer hair now then ever, and there have been times (particularly at uni) where I didn't de knot my hair for days and ended up in the shower with a fine comb and using bottles and bottles of conditioner, whether these incidences of complete neglect have exacerbated a problem.

[chen bao jun]

These things are the plague of my life, ever since I went naturally curly.
I used to just rip them off with my fingers before I went LHC. Now I snip them off carefully.
I get 20 or more every time I do my hair.
Its encouraging to read that you guys do not think they make a difference.
I fear they are the reason I have a very abrupt taper which starts about 1 inch away from the ends of my hair (the area in which I always find them).
It's like, my hair is approx. 5 inches circumference around down to the last inch and then its suddenly, and I mean suddenly (this taper is not gradual) about 1/2 circumference, if that.
I haven't cut it off because it makes it possible for me to do buns, but I can't help but fear that the fairy knots have me cutting all that hair off.

[jacqueline101]

I get them I untangle them.

[QuillEnchanted]

So that's what those knots are called...

I get them every now and again, usually close to the ends where my hair is more dry [I have waist length, coarse straight hair]. I've just been untangling them, but they leave my poor ends bent/kinked at funny angles and they don't feel nice at all. From this thread, I'm starting to think I should be trimming them out when I do S&D instead.

I have coconut oil that I use occasionally for my ends [like, maybe once a week before wash day]. It sounds like oiling a bit more frequently might help prevent them?

[oddelabop]

I'd love to be able to untangle them, but they are so tight and my hair is so fine... I wouldn't know how the hell to start !