Updo ideas?

[Julescarm]

I've been trying to protect my ends to prevent breakage. I can wear hair sticks for a couple hours and braids for a little longer. Maybe three hours. My hair is fine and a little over 28 inches. Problem is, my scalp gets sore. Even in a braid hanging down. Wearing it loose doesn't hurt but it causes quite a bit of tangling. My scalp is so sensetive to pain, I don't allow my husband to place his hand gently on top of my head. It brings on a searing pain. Long hair loose is fine, but anything beyond that hurts. Its been like this my whole life. I'd like to protect my ends. I have been moisturizing them. No major shedding and I can brush my hair good. Any protective style ideas? Sorry for the Long post and I am not trying to sound over dramatic. I love my long hair and I don't plan on cutting it. :)

[MusicalSpoons]

I'm sorry to hear your scalp is so sensitive! That does make it much harder to protect your hair. I'm going to suggest hair forks (maybe), spin pins, little claw clips - they all should distribute weight better, if you haven't already tried them.

The unfortunate thing is it would take experimentation to find what might work better and in what exact style, and with what placement - and of course that also changes as your hair grows longer! But if you do find something that works, it will definitely be worth the effort :) Is your hair i, ii or iii thickness?

[sumidha]

What about a snood?

[akurah]

You give your hair in inches, but that doesn't tell us really how long it is in context with the rest of you. I have a coworker whose hair is 30 inches, and it's barely at APL on him. Whereas other people might find 30 inches to be firmly BSL or even waist.

What kind of length are you dealing with? APL? BSL? Waist?

[cjk]

Loosely hanging down is fine, but braided and hanging down isn't? Hmm.

It doesn't add any weight, so it must be something else.

How tightly do you braid? It could be tension...

I'd posit that you need to spread out the weight, more evenly, over a larger area. So I'm going to suggest two braids, and maybe a French or Dutch braid which has multiple attachment points.

It's just a guess but that might help?

[AmaryllisRed]

I agree with French and Dutch braids. Two French or Dutch braids is very comfortable for me personally. And I usually bun the length for more protection. Depending on your thickness, you may or may not be able to bun the length of a single braid, but I bet you could with two braids.

[Julescarm]

My hair is 1b-2a i. It is very close maybe 1/4 inch to tailbone. (I do need to remeasure, as I found I was doing that wrong) lol. I like the distributed braids idea. Havnt thought about smaller pins to hold up hair either. I've even thought about a snood. Ill be experimenting with these and see if I can get a friend to teach me more than the English braid as that's all I've mastered. Lol.

[Lady Stardust]

I’ve had scalp pain for a few months following a head injury so I know exactly what you’re talking about. I’m really sorry to hear this is a permanent problem for you :blossom:

I think there’s a balance between wearing your hair loose to give your scalp a break, and wearing it up to protect it. My hair is much much shorter than yours but I found a French plait was fine once it was in (it hurt to do it). The most comfortable was a disc bun held with a stick, I couldn’t even feel that it was there. Is a disc bun still possible at your length?

I’ve heard that sectioned buns can help with distributing the weight - I’m sure someone can correct me but I think you do a half up bun and then wrap the lower half around the base.