S&D'ing curly hair, white dots and fairy knots

[CurlyCalamity]

First off, hello LHC :) There are so many amazing heads of hair here, and so much information! The few things I've changed so far have left me with a lot more good hair days than bad, and I'm sure this is just the beginning

I don't have particularly many splits, but I do have a lot of white dots (most on the very ends, but a decent number 1-3" up my hair shafts) and fairy knots. The white dots are mostly localised to the outer front part of my hair (I think from sleeping as I sleep on my side) and the fairy knots are throughout.

With the white dots, in what situations would it be better to snip them vs leaving them in? For the ones on the tips, does trimming them prevent it from getting worse or is it likely that they'll reappear wherever I snip because the hairs are damaged further up?
My hair is quite fragile and I find the ones above the ends break off a lot, so would it be better to leave the hairs with a clean cut rather than the break, or same as above, is the damage likely to continue further up?

As far as preventing more of the dreadful little white dots, what are some things to try? I think my hair needs some more protein, and I finally found a protein containing conditioner that doesn't make my hair feel crispy, so I imagine that'll help. I'm also looking for ways to avoid friction when sitting down/sleeping, which I'd suspect is the biggest cause. I don't colour or straighten or blow-dry my hair or anything, but I do live in the skin cancer capital of the world - could sun damage be contributing?

For the fairy knots, I basically always wear my hair down so they're to be expected. I don't find they result in many tangles when I'm caring for my hair properly, so I guess my gut reaction is to leave them in rather than snipping them out. If they aren't causing tangles, are there other reasons to remove them?

[MusicalSpoons]

Welcome! :flower:

I haven't found evidence that damage travels up my hair, and especially the most fragile baby-fine streaks around the front of my hair are more likely to crumble than split - those do have white dots, and snipping or naturally breaking off don't seem to make a difference.

What material are you sleeping on? I found a satin pillowcase made a huge difference, but the biggest difference for the fragile hairs was having them contained in a satin bonnet at night.

Sun damage could definitely be a contributing factor, especially if your hair bleaches a lighter shade in the sun.

Once you get longer, to the point where your hair is rubbing against the backs of seats, with it being quite fragile it is likely you're going to need to wear it up if you want to keep growing.

As for fairy knots, if they aren't causing tangles and therefore damaging hairs around them, I can't think of any benefit to cutting them off, especially if it's not going to stop new ones forming.

[lapushka]

Welcome.

I had white dots about an inch from my roots, due to perm damage and heat damage at the same time. Half of my head was riddled in white dots. I did *not* no way no how want to cut it off to pixie length or thin my hemline out that far, and so I grew them out; I grew my hair, which was shoulder length at the time down to hip all while leaving them alone. Yes, some broke off, but that's how it goes.

I still had quite a thick hem down to hip, and that is when my mom majorly S&D'ed on me and it got veeery thin up to BSL (after all half of my head, you know), and so we cut back to BSL. Beat having a pixie!

You can grow these out just fine. I did not particularly baby them! Not one bit. What broke off, broke off, and I just let it be and grew my hair.

[Fimu]

Welcome.

I had white dots about an inch from my roots, due to perm damage and heat damage at the same time. Half of my head was riddled in white dots. I did *not* no way no how want to cut it off to pixie length or thin my hemline out that far, and so I grew them out; I grew my hair, which was shoulder length at the time down to hip all while leaving them alone. Yes, some broke off, but that's how it goes.

I still had quite a thick hem down to hip, and that is when my mom majorly S&D'ed on me and it got veeery thin up to BSL (after all half of my head, you know), and so we cut back to BSL. Beat having a pixie!

You can grow these out just fine. I did not particularly baby them! Not one bit. What broke off, broke off, and I just let it be and grew my hair.

Not OP, but I find your story inspirational for growing out damaged hair while gaining length at the same time :flower:

I do wonder, though, did you wore up your hair up most of the time when you were growing out heat+perm damage from shoulders to hip? How often did you trim it during that growth journey before the S&D mistake?

[lapushka]

Not OP, but I find your story inspirational for growing out damaged hair while gaining length at the same time :flower:

I do wonder, though, did you wore up your hair up most of the time when you were growing out heat+perm damage from shoulders to hip? How often did you trim it during that growth journey before the S&D mistake?

Aw thank you! :)

Yep, peacock twist as of APL'ish length or just about, before that, just down.

I could only start to (comfortably) bun at about hip, and then I got set back to BSL, so I wore that peacock twist aka log roll for a long long time!

[Jane99]

Good inspiration, indeed!! Your story eases my hair anxieties, by a lot.

[CurlyCalamity]

Welcome! :flower:

I haven't found evidence that damage travels up my hair, and especially the most fragile baby-fine streaks around the front of my hair are more likely to crumble than split - those do have white dots, and snipping or naturally breaking off don't seem to make a difference.

What material are you sleeping on? I found a satin pillowcase made a huge difference, but the biggest difference for the fragile hairs was having them contained in a satin bonnet at night.

Sun damage could definitely be a contributing factor, especially if your hair bleaches a lighter shade in the sun.

Once you get longer, to the point where your hair is rubbing against the backs of seats, with it being quite fragile it is likely you're going to need to wear it up if you want to keep growing.

As for fairy knots, if they aren't causing tangles and therefore damaging hairs around them, I can't think of any benefit to cutting them off, especially if it's not going to stop new ones forming.



Welcome.

I had white dots about an inch from my roots, due to perm damage and heat damage at the same time. Half of my head was riddled in white dots. I did *not* no way no how want to cut it off to pixie length or thin my hemline out that far, and so I grew them out; I grew my hair, which was shoulder length at the time down to hip all while leaving them alone. Yes, some broke off, but that's how it goes.

I still had quite a thick hem down to hip, and that is when my mom majorly S&D'ed on me and it got veeery thin up to BSL (after all half of my head, you know), and so we cut back to BSL. Beat having a pixie!

You can grow these out just fine. I did not particularly baby them! Not one bit. What broke off, broke off, and I just let it be and grew my hair.

That's good to know! In that case, I'll leave the white dots alone and just try to limit any further damage. Lapushka, if you managed to grow yours from shoulder to hip with way more than me, then I can definitely manage BSL to waist with them! I plan to just maintain at waist, so they'll get trimmed off in time. Thank you both! (as an aside, I am calling my length based on my hairs length when straight because it sproings up so much and so inconsistently, is that the usual convention here?)

I have silk satin pillowcases, but I pretty much always end up waking up tangled up quite aggressively in my hair, and surprise surprise the bits I sleep on are the bits that are damaged. I think a cap would be a good idea for that reason. I had a bit of a look online, but I didn't really find anything inspiring, so I'll try to knuckle down and figure out my best option. I definitely need to start wearing my hair up more too, but I don't want to destroy my curls and because we live in a #society the amount of updos that are acceptable for me to wear out of the house are limited. Always dilemmas :(

My hair does tend to bleach in the sun (thanks big hole in the ozone layer and sunny Queensland weather), so I guess I'll be trying to wear a hat a bit more often then :sun:

[Fimu]

. I definitely need to start wearing my hair up more too, but I don't want to destroy my curls and because we live in a #society the amount of updos that are acceptable for me to wear out of the house are limited. Always dilemmas :(


I can relate somehow! I have curly hair and my mother (with heat + chemically straightened hair) thinks my messy bun literally looks messy and reveals that I haven't brushed my hair (which is also true for curly hair). It must be noted that my edges are wiry and very prone to frizz. My mother thinks my hair looks more presentable in public when I just wear my hair down or in a ponytail or braids, but I don't like wearing low braids because I get disturbed too much by the amount of split ends.

[lapushka]

That's good to know! In that case, I'll leave the white dots alone and just try to limit any further damage. Lapushka, if you managed to grow yours from shoulder to hip with way more than me, then I can definitely manage BSL to waist with them! I plan to just maintain at waist, so they'll get trimmed off in time. Thank you both! (as an aside, I am calling my length based on my hairs length when straight because it sproings up so much and so inconsistently, is that the usual convention here?)

I have silk satin pillowcases, but I pretty much always end up waking up tangled up quite aggressively in my hair, and surprise surprise the bits I sleep on are the bits that are damaged. I think a cap would be a good idea for that reason. I had a bit of a look online, but I didn't really find anything inspiring, so I'll try to knuckle down and figure out my best option. I definitely need to start wearing my hair up more too, but I don't want to destroy my curls and because we live in a #society the amount of updos that are acceptable for me to wear out of the house are limited. Always dilemmas :(

My hair does tend to bleach in the sun (thanks big hole in the ozone layer and sunny Queensland weather), so I guess I'll be trying to wear a hat a bit more often then :sun:

You can measure stretched or curly, whatever you prefer! But we do measure from the forehead down, so lay the tape measure 0-point where the hair meets the forehead and drape it over the length (over the head, down the back). If that makes any sense. It is a little bit hard when it's shorter, but you can always enlist some help. :)

A sleeping cap should be great with your texture especially.

I just wear mine down, but I sleep on a (silky soft) microfiber pillowcase all the time, and it's enough for me. Back when I had that damage, I even slept on cotton. :o Yeah, I know. It doesn't all come to you at once, this good knowledge on how to treat your hair. ;)

[AutobotsAttack]

I don’t have too many white dots. The few I see are usually just random occurring ones. To which I don’t really pay any mind. Fairy knots happen the most often from shedding for me. I’ve transitioned to wearing braids pretty much day in and day out, however I have to re-do the braids a few at a time. If I take them all out at once and try to wash it’s tangles everywhere, which then prompts a bunch of fairy knots.

I wouldn’t worry about fairy knots. They tend to just happen for some people regardless. If you manage to undo them with something that has a very fine tipped point, and have the patience for it, it’s possible to undo the knot. Otherwise if they’re quite angry knots, a little snip should suffice.

I also notice I get a lot less fairy knots if I’ve upped my moisture quite a bit. Protein treatments don’t really alleviate knots all that much for me.

[CurlyCalamity]

I have removed a total of about 20 split ends over 5 days... So there were not very many splits at all! I've left the white dots and fairy knots alone... Well mostly, some got snipped, it's hard to not be a little trigger happy.
I guess I'll wait and see how it goes! I'm not too far off from my current goal (famous last words as a new member here? Watch my goal length get a lot longer after seeing so many amazing heads of hair) Thanks for all the advice :)