Buns that don't put tension on the scalp?

[Cherrys]

I apologize if this has been done before, but my search for "tension" yielded results mostly about the proper amount for certain hairstyles, so I'm going to just ask.

I keep my hair mostly in buns for convenience/protection, and I've been feeling more tension at my scalp, particularly my hairline, as my hair grows and my buns get bigger. I've tried making them more loosely (I usually do the lazy wrap bun) and moving them around in placement, but they'll either fall out or still have that weird pulling sensation.

I want to avoid headaches/broken hairs, so I'm looking for a particular bun or way of securing my hair that keeps it up and safe from tangles, but doesn't put tension on the follicles from too much weight.

Does anyone else get that feeling? Do you have any ideas on how to lessen it?

[Nini]

You'll just have to play around and figure out where you're best balance point is.

I've got fine hair, although there's quite a bit of it. But I can't do messy buns, I need that right amount of tension to keep it up and that means tighter, firmer buns.

[Agnes Hannah]

I've only recently had this feeling as I'm a super finey! You could try plaits, a crown braid to balance out the weight, or heidi plaits.

[lapushka]

How long is your hair now?

Buns get better with added length. As a iii, I need at least hip for a bun to be do-able. It gets "comfortable" at around TBL, TBL-classic. So that should tell you something about added length and doing buns.

As a ii you'll probably be able to do buns a tad sooner, but still, you'll need the length for it to be without much or any tension. You shouldn't feel any discomfort whatsoever from a bun!

[Kherome]

It's not the bun so much as it is technique and the right holding tool. You'll get the best results from a light weight 3 to 4 prong fork IME, followed by Amish pins if forks aren't your thing.

[animetor7]

How are you holding your hair up? Sometimes if you're only using a few pins or just one hair stick it puts more tension in one spot. You can also try crown braids or maiden braids which distribute weight well.

[Cg]

I echo the multiprong fork suggestion. Also I often French braid from ear to nape. The braid is hidden by the bun but helps distribute weight.

[littlestarface]

Buns hurt me I have to always have it at a certain spot and not low and not in the middle either or else pain city. I do much better with braids, crown braid is the best one other than twin braids.

[Saldana]

My hair is heavy and thick (and seems to be getting thicker...go figure...) Anyway, I can offer 3 styles that often work for me when *any* pulling at my scalp makes me take the whole thing down and let my hair take it's chances with the world.

Bunning essentially on top of my head. The weight of my hair basically just sits on top of my head, it can't pull

Double buns - I've had best luck with these side by side kind of towards the back/middle of my head.

My favorite probably has a name, but I don't know what it is, so I'll describe how to do it:

Tools: Hair elastic, chopstick, scrunchie

Pony tail hair mid-back of head, not too tight
Stick a chopstick horizontally through the pony tail, behind the hair elastic (closer to the scalp)
Take length of hair and wrap it in kind of a figure-8 around the chopstick
Wrap last couple of inches just in a circular pattern around the bun to secure and get ends underneath
Holding the bun with one hand, use the other hand to slip a scrunchie around the whole thing

and voila! super comfy bun, balanced, no pulling or tension. To make it more secure, you can tuck hairpins into it, but I usually don't need to.

[trolleypup]

My usual lazy bun, single stick, self-secured...but requires a fair amount of length for a given thickness (for me that was past classic), hair that isn't super slippy, and fairytale ends/even taper.

Grab hair at the nape as if for a ponytail, slide the stick through horizontally against your scalp, then figure 8 the hair under each end of the stick 1.5 (or 2) complete figure 8s, wind the remaining hair around the base a couple/few times. The weight should keep the tucked ends secure. Oh, no twisting (or no intentional twisting). With no twisting, and the slack from the beginning of the first figure 8, weight is very evenly distributed. Not the neatest and most evenly patterned bun, but easy on the hair and scalp...with just the mildest bun waves when released...pull the stick, and without the usual twisting or securement, it will fall all the way down.

[RebekahE]

Gather your hair into a medium to high ponytail. Once you have it gathered and smoothed how you want pull the hand holding the ponytail out slightly to create some looseness of the scalp hair. Then gently twist and wrap it into a cinnabun, taking care to loosen any areas that might become tight. Secure with 3-4 small 1" jaw clips.
Another thing to do is to section a small piece of hair on your crown (You can do both or one side, if I have a side part, I do the side that has more hair, middlepart; I tend to do both sides). Twist and add in small section until you have gone slightly past the ear. Gently secure with 1-2 bobby pins. Bun the rest of your hair. You can leave the bobby pins, but I pretty much always remove them.
Hope that helps and hopefully, you can understand my terrible describory skills.

[Aphra]

I do the ponytail /chopstick bun described above too - I think it is a type of chinese bun, certainly I learnt it from a youtube video that called it that.

At the moment I have all my hair in a top knot on the centre top of my head, held by an octopus claw clip. Advantages are it was really simple to do, it's really firmly up, but the bun isn't placing any roots under tension, the weight is balanced, and I can lean on head rests. The potential disadvantage is with the poufy front and sides of gathering my ponytail with my head upside down (which is what stops it from being tight on the roots), I look a bit like an Edwardian librarian. YMMV on how desirable that is.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

The hypno bun works really well for m, and looks cool too.

[MsPharaohMoan]

I echo the multiprong fork suggestion. Also I often French braid from ear to nape. The braid is hidden by the bun but helps distribute weight.

This is such a good idea! Gives a base to weave your hairtoy into. Genius!

I find experimenting to be necessary. As I assume you're growing your hair, your buns are going to be changing. It might help for you to learn buns that have different holds. When LWB wasn't working for me because my hair had grown, I had to pull the bun tighter to get it to hold the way I like it to... Anyways the disc bun got recommended to me and it changed the game for me. Now that more time has passed, the LWB works fine on me :shrug:

[JustPam]

My hair type is similar to yours OP, I have recently started favouring the nautilus held with 2 small claw clips, very comfy. I dont like buns that involve coiling the length, that seems to create tension problems for me.

I always start my bun with a ponytail so if you're not opposed to hairties (in my opinion they are fine if you use the soft, metal free ones and don't do them too tight) I suggest that, just do it tight enough to be a secure base and then loosen the top/front by just placing your hand flat against your head and pulling forward a bit. Then do your bun of choice (I still advocate non-twisty buns) and put a claw clip either side, or spin pins would be my other choice, they work nicely when you use a hairtie because they anchor onto that rather than your scalp hair.

[Nique1202]

YMMV on a lot of these: ponytails often create tension. If you want to try the buns recommended to start that way, you may want to instead start with a few turnings of a braid. It holds the hair in place and makes a base for the bun, but won't pull the hair artificially tight.

The disc bun is a good one to reduce scalp tension because it sections the bun somewhat. It's like a lazy wrap split in half, and it doesn't require as much tension as the lazy wrap. You might also have success just with trying other buns if the lazy wrap isn't working for you. You could check out the hairstyle of the month forum and try some of the different ones that have been highlighted in the past, see if any of them work for you.

[Simsy]

Couple of suggestions, finding the "sweet spot" on your head might help. Mine is fairly low and anything higher than that point tends to hurt after a couple of hours; the nautilus is my most comfortable bun and I can't tolerate it any higher than low pony. I also find the part can affect where and how hair pulls, so might be worth a look.

Second option, braids. Not a bun; sorry; but 2-4 English braids just wrapped around the back of the head like a headband and pinned or sewed down. I do this for work and it is unbelievably comfortable, even after 4 days.

[ipickee]

The longer my hair gets, the higher my bun has to be, lol! I third (or fourth?) the hair fork comments. I can still use sticks, and love them, but the forks are where true comfort lies for me. I can wear them all day. Plus, that's how i put my hair up to sleep. High bun, held with forks at night. Doesn't budge, and doesn't pull.

[-Fern]

I have the same issue--and forks/sticks have helped me immensely when it comes to distributing the weight of my bun. Buns that work best for me keep all the hair close against my scalp--for example, a vortex bun (http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn253/AprilElf/Misc%20LHC/lollibunrerun.jpg) is waaay more comfortable for me than a bee butt bun (https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/9e/05/28/9e052838a1a37d84de98b590620167a0.jpg).

When I exercise, even a ponytail pulls too much, so I always do a French braid now for working out. This might be a good way to break up your hair styles to give your scalp an extra break 2-3 days a week so that your buns aren't pulling at the same spots constantly.