Help My Severely Matted Curly Hair Had Formed One Large Hard Knot!

[itsashx3]

Hi,

I have thick mixed ethnic curly hair. I usually just use Devacurl products. However, I tried to switch it up and add Shea Moisture leave in conditioner and Castor Oil to my routine. However, my hair gradually became drier and a few days later, I took a shower and my hair was beginning to stick together. Unfortunately, I had no time to comb it out since I was in a rush and stupidly just applied the products again and threw it up in a bun. The next day I woke up and my hair was stuck together in two HARD balls. I can't even poke a hole through. I've used oils, take down removal, knotty boy etc, but its still stuck! And it keeps shrinking closer to my scalp. I really do not want to cut it! help!

[H o n є y ❤]

Did you use tons and I mean TONS of the product to try and get it out? Try using a lots of conditioner with cones in it (i.e. Herbal Essence) and let it kind of marinate in your hair before trying to get the knots out. Sometimes oils don't do the trick. If you don't like cones I guess you can try clarifying after you get it out.

[Maelyssa]

I've been through this twice with my 13 year old daughter who has similar hair type & basically, in a rush, did the same thing. I used a lot of VO5 as a leave in, the Tangle Teaser plus a wide tooth comb and lots of patience to work through it. Even though it's one hard ball, start at the bottom of the matted knot & gently start combing, some hairs will come loose. This will take lots of time & is best done by someone other than yourself but you definitely don't want to lose your hair to this.
Oh and don't do the oils while you're doing the comb out. I found it didn't really help much.

[Nymphe]

Castor oil (you can get it at a drugstore or pharmacy), your fingers, and sharp scissors. Saturate each part you will finger detangle, and pull out bit by bit, strand by strand. If you need to soften it, mist it lightly with apple cider vinegar and water. I hate to tell you this, but it will take hours, if not days, to get most of your hair free.

[Mrstran]

When I was a kid there were several times I had gotten bubblegum stuck in my hair. I'd be running around with it in my hair all day ( I had very long hair!) Causing a nest of hair and gum. My mother would be fuming by the time I came in the house! This may sound crazy but my mother use to put peanut butter in my hair and keep gently comb at it until the gum was all out. Granted this took FOREVER, but it did work.

Im really sorry this happened. I never would have thought those two would have stuck together like that. I am truly baffled.

[Kajzh]

The good news is that it can be removed. Don't panic. If 10-year-old dreadlocks can be removed, then you'll be alright.

When clients come to me with massive nests of matted hair, I tell them to saturate their hair in oil and sit under a dryer for 30 minutes, then slowly pick at it with a rat tail comb.

I am a little wary of dousing your hair in conditioner because they have a lot of water, and combing at mats with damp hair causes a lot of breakage.

[browneyedsusan]

You can get it out. Get someone to help you and work on it a little each day. It'll give it up. :)

[Anje]

Personally, I find castor oil too sticky, and would go with something like olive oil, if you want to go the oil route. Don't get it wet, whatever you do -- it rarely helps.

Honestly though, I'd probably get some silicone serum and just drench the hair with it, then start picking little bits apart at a time. Plan on it taking a while, take frequent breaks before you get frustrated, and section off untangled portions into braids or similar so they won't get themselves into trouble while you work.

[truepeacenik]

Welcome. Sorry found us under such circumstances.

I'm seeing two issues, the hair knots and dried product clump.

So I would clean off the product, with a strong shampoo. (See threads on clarifying)
Once the chemicals were out of the way, I'd start with oil or serum and slowly detangle from the ends up. I combed dreads out of straightish hair. Took a while and I covered my hair for a month before it was presentable again.

I'd also call a locs salon to see if they could help you.

[lapushka]

Wow, looks like it matted pretty quickly too. Good luck with trying to detangle it. :)

Let us know how it's going.
How is it going?

[mish9101]

Castor oil is a very sticky oil i have never used it in my hair for this reason and keep to oils like coconut oil(my fav) argon oil , almond oil, olive oil etc

what i would do if i was you is put shampoo on the hair before wetting it a lot of it without water and try and detangle it with your fingers if this doesn't work then get some apple cider vinegar

have patience and do it slowly

once it becomes loose you might want to do a non sticky oil treatment

[mish9101]

How is your hair now? did you manage to get it out?

[littlestarface]

I'd use Kinky Curly Knot Today, I get matts like a persian cat that stuff takes those matts out so easy.

[itsashx3]

Yes I've had assistance from people who have been using whole bottles of product and combing through while a little wet. However only small strands would come out after hours. Morrocan oil has been helping but it only softens for a little bit then becomes hard. In certain places it's just almost impossible to get a comb through

[itsashx3]

Maelyssa, how many hours did it take for you to get your daughters hair out?

[itsashx3]

Kinkycurlyknot hasn't worked for me :(

[itsashx3]

Castor oil (you can get it at a drugstore or pharmacy), your fingers, and sharp scissors. Saturate each part you will finger detangle, and pull out bit by bit, strand by strand. If you need to soften it, mist it lightly with apple cider vinegar and water. I hate to tell you this, but it will take hours, if not days, to get most of your hair free.

It's hard to find each individual strand since it's curly and clumped together in all different directions

[littlestarface]

Yes I've had assistance from people who have been using whole bottles of product and combing through while a little wet. However only small strands would come out after hours. Morrocan oil has been helping but it only softens for a little bit then becomes hard. In certain places it's just almost impossible to get a comb through

Ohmygosh I would be crying so much, Have you tried just dumping a ton of oil on it and slowly finger detangle?

[Nymphe]

Do not use plain water.

Do not wash your hair.

Either will loc your hair even more.

Concentrate on the outer edges of the knots, use the separation at the roots to pull your hair out strand by strand.

I agree with truepeacenik, you may have to see a loctician to help with this.

[CindyOfTheOaks]

I'm so sorry !
I can't even imagine the mess and frustration you have.

[calmyogi]

When I was a kid there were several times I had gotten bubblegum stuck in my hair. I'd be running around with it in my hair all day ( I had very long hair!) Causing a nest of hair and gum. My mother would be fuming by the time I came in the house! This may sound crazy but my mother use to put peanut butter in my hair and keep gently comb at it until the gum was all out. Granted this took FOREVER, but it did work.

Im really sorry this happened. I never would have thought those two would have stuck together like that. I am truly baffled.

Off the subject, but you know what works wonders on gum in hair as well? Lemon essential oil. My daughter got some in her hair and I put a few drops of doterra lemon oil on it and it came out really easy with some combing.

[Maelyssa]

Maelyssa, how many hours did it take for you to get your daughters hair out?

I spent about 2 hours straight to get a mat out that was roughly 75% of the back of her hair.
I know people discourage doing it wet but it gave me the slip I needed whereas dry combing did not. So yes, we did add water during the process since it kept drying out..

[Apolli]

Did you try using needles? I usually put the tip of it (which is very small) under a strand and work it out. If I have a knot I'd usually use a very thin sewing needle and pick out any shed hairs first (3b curly coarse hair so sheds are a major part of why I have knots) as those are 'disposable'. Start from the ends of the knot and work your way to the center. You don't have to start detangling from the center of the knot or finish one place before moving onto another- I usually work what I can at one then move on when I sense that I might have better luck elsewhere. If you can tell which hairs are also sheds you can cut through them close to the knotted parts to remove or at least loosen the knot. I can usually tell sheds from other hair by just gently tugging at it and feeling if I sense any pressure on my scalp. Sheds usually exert pressure on the top of the strand (my roots tend to dread) instead of on the scalp while still attached hairs exert pressure on the follicle they're attached to.

I also cut through a few 'sacrifice' hairs if I absolutely have to (chosen according to length that would be lost and how complicit they are in the knot), which would be better than just cutting the whole thing off. The more hairs you get out of the knot the looser it would be and/or the less hairs you might be forced to cut off, if any. I also know that wetting the hair is kinda getting a mixed response here in regards to this situation so I can't really comment much on that. I found that light oils give slip though (vatika deep conditioner gives me huge slip but has liquid parraffin and silicones in it if that's a no-no to you),

If there are single strand knots getting in your way, you can use the thin sewing needle to loosen single strand knots (that would have a tough time getting out of the multi strand knots) and then gradually use stuff bigger in diameter to loosen the circles and event unwrap them (I go from teh sewing needle then remove it, then use a bigger needle that goes up in diameter/gets thicker from the tip down and then eventually to a mechanical pen that unravels the whole thing as I gentle move the loosen single strand knot down through it). I have coarse hair though, it might not be feasible or as easy with finer hair.

[Vanilla]

I am seconding kinky curly knot today. That stuff is magic as far as slip.

[lapushka]

Kinkycurlyknot hasn't worked for me :(


I am seconding kinky curly knot today. That stuff is magic as far as slip.

Unfortunately, she already mentioned it doesn't work. :(

[luxurioushair]

You could try Argan Oil...it has a really silky texture to it. But I personally have no experience with such matting so what I'm recommending may or may not work.

For future reference, plaits are your friends, so make things easy on yourself and use them to save yourself this kind of trouble.

[missrandie]

On the same note as Apolli, maybe try using a single thin knitting needle to loosen parts out? I have a couple double pointed knitting needles that I bent into hair pins, and I use one of those to pick apart matted sections in my cat's fur.

I would also try adding a generous amount of silicone serum. I used to use one called Cowboy Magic Detangler and Shine on my horses when their tails turned into nests, and it never failed me. It was nearly straight dimethicone.

[littlestarface]

I am seconding kinky curly knot today. That stuff is magic as far as slip.
It is. When I first used it I was thinking to just put it on dry hair an try n comb it out but no you have to wet the hair and then slather it on for it to work.

OP I hope you get this combed out, I really feel for you cuz I get this all the time too if I dont comb for a day even in braids the hair will get matted together and get stuck for me but I think for you it was the stuff you used that help this mess happen T_T

[missmelaniem]

Gosh I personally would probably get a referral from a trusted source for a pro to help you out. I have never had my hair do that so I have nothing to offer in terms of help. Hope everything works out for you... so sorry you are going through this.

[meteor]

I'd also call a locs salon to see if they could help you.

^ This. :agree: At this stage, I'd get a friend or an LHC-er in your area or a loctitian to work on this, because it sounds like a complicated job for a few days, at least... I'd try to work on hair dry or damp or with silicones, oils, slight dampening with spray bottles... but not washing hair until it's mostly detangled, because drying hair after a full wash in this matted state will further "wet-set" (see hydrogen bonds in hair) hair in this shape... you don't want wet-setting to work against you in this case. :flower: That's exactly what happened with an LHC-er with knee-length hair not that long ago who kept washing hair after a matte formed and it didn't work out, unfortunately... :(

I'd use a very wide-tooth comb, an end of a rat-tail comb and a needle/pin to work with knots and make sure to braid and/or clip away/cover the sections that you have detangled because they could otherwise be easily reintroduced into the knots, if not isolated from that knotted hair properly.



When I was a kid there were several times I had gotten bubblegum stuck in my hair. I'd be running around with it in my hair all day ( I had very long hair!) Causing a nest of hair and gum. My mother would be fuming by the time I came in the house! This may sound crazy but my mother use to put peanut butter in my hair and keep gently comb at it until the gum was all out. Granted this took FOREVER, but it did work.

Interesting. :) I've heard of peanut butter trick used on children's matted hair before, and I've always wondered... why specifically peanut butter? :confused: Isn't it just the oil in that product that helps in that case? If it has to be something "peanut", why not just use peanut oil? I can't imagine how the solids in peanut butter could be helping the detangling situation... :hmm:


itsashx3, I really hope you'll manage to get this detangled! :pray: I wish you lots of patience!! This can be extremely tough and frustrating, but can be done! Best of luck to you! :cheer:

[itsashx3]

I still have it in my head! i'm freaking out, each time one part of the hair loosens another tightens. HELP. idk how to address this. thank you all for the encouragement!

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Gosh, how horrible! Hoping you find a way to get it out without having to cut it :grouphug:

[Nymphe]

I still have it in my head! i'm freaking out, each time one part of the hair loosens another tightens. HELP. idk how to address this. thank you all for the encouragement!
You are going to have to spend the money on a loctician and be prepared to lose some hair. I have been in your situation and had to deal with it on my own because I was too ashamed to ask for help.

Don't worry about the areas that tighten; free as much hair as you can.

The problem with using plain water is that it reverts the hair back to its natural state. This, in turn, will make tight curls that are matted loc even more. Shampooing is even worse, since cleansing agents strip hair and can raise the cuticle layer.

Please, seek professional help.

[Apolli]

Yeah if you can't sort it out by yourself a professional might be of more help- just get someone who you trust etc...
Also try to keep any unknotted hair away from the knot (braid the safe hairs etc..) to avoid incorporating new hairs into the knot.

[Gothic]

On youtube I saw a loctician detangling a mane that was matting for 6 months so please go to a professional, it's worth it.

[Kat-Rinnè Naido]

:blossom::love:Sending lots of love and good wishes.

[Mrstran]

Any luck yet? I was just checking in, really hoping you were able to recover your hair from all that. I cannot imagine how hard that must be to deal with. If it's not out yet, dont give up. I'm sure there are many more things out there to try.

[CurlyCap]

Time, patience, slippery products, and scissors.

Like a lot have said above, pull out what hairs you can, then you will reach a centre knot that wont give. I usually cut down the middle (vertically) of the knot, and that frees up more strands that you can salvage. But yes, you'll likely lose hair.

This is why curlies work hard to prevent knots, but once they set up, they are nearly lost causes. You don't have to do much with your hair type, but it needs to be moisturised and it needs to be frequently detangled.

Good luck chica, and remember we've all been there. Hair grows back.

[Hairkay]

You could try Argan Oil...it has a really silky texture to it. But I personally have no experience with such matting so what I'm recommending may or may not work.

For future reference, plaits are your friends, so make things easy on yourself and use them to save yourself this kind of trouble.

I'm cheering for helpful plaits/braids.

I also agree on seeking professional help with your hair if possible and it may take several visits.

[meteor]

I've been thinking about this thread a lot... How is it going, itsashx3? :heartbeat I really hope it's getting better. :pray:
It can take a long time, but it will work out, please don't give up! :grouphug:
Do you have somebody to help you with the matted area in the back? It *really* helps if you get one or two people to help, especially in the back area where it's impossible to see... If you don't have a friend or relative to help out and no loctitian option available, maybe there is an LHC-er in your area who can help you, if you can share approximate location?

There are a few useful Youtube videos and step-by-step instructions for helping detangle severely matted hair. I found this post pretty good: http://lifeofafinancemajor.blogspot.ca/2011/07/before-you-do-anything-to-your-hair.html

Best of luck to you! :heartbeat Don't give up! :pray: It will work out! :grouphug: :cheer:

[Avienda]

How's it going? What part of the world are you in? Maybe there is someone near that is willing to help. I know it can be done but will be a slow process for sure! Wish I could help more. I love the challenge of detangling.

[lapushka]

How's it going? What part of the world are you in? Maybe there is someone near that is willing to help. I know it can be done but will be a slow process for sure! Wish I could help more. I love the challenge of detangling.

Yes, for sure, maybe someone can help you out!

OP, how's it going?

[Maelyssa]

I still have it in my head! i'm freaking out, each time one part of the hair loosens another tightens. HELP. idk how to address this. thank you all for the encouragement!

If you've ever had to untangle a very fine necklace chain that's very similar to what's going on with your hair. I hope you find resolution without a huge chop. If you do keep up with trying the detangling just know that as you go through the process, some areas will indeed get worse while you're working through other areas. Just keep on going & stick with that same area. once you finally work your way through an area use a clip, hair tie or something to keep it out of the way as much as possible from the rest of the hair so it doesn't get tangled back in.