hair washing dilemma

[squiggyflop]

well im almost a tailbone.. again... and im finding that my routine doesnt work anymore.. my hair doesnt like being washed in the bath anymore.. i dread thinking about switching to showers.. as no matter how hot the shower gets it doesnt cut through my chronic back pain like a bath does..

i switched my conditioner to the damage control one by suave professionals.. it helped a bit but i still have problems when i wash it in the bath..

even when kneeling my hair touches the tops of my thighs while washing so the ends cant stay out of the water..

dont get me wrong i love that when im sitting at my desk at school i get comments about my hair touching the tops of my thighs.. but its making washing a pain..

so what would you do? did anyone else find that at a certain length you had to switch your routine? at what length was that on you.. do you recomend any products (cheap is necesary) for getting through this awkward stage without chopping again

[plainjanegirl]

Sorry I have no ideas! But sorry that you are having difficulties.

[florenonite]

Have you got a removable shower head? Maybe you could kneel in the bath and wash your hair with that?

[Fiferstone]

Hmnnn, I'd wash first in shower, then draw the bath, putting my clean washed hair up on my head in some non-damaging way, and enjoy the bath (?)

[prettydark]

I take hot baths every day, but usually just wear my hair up in a bun and don't get it wet.

I S&C only once per week. Some weeks I'll do a WO wash, and this is usually followed by a good oiling. So my hair is only getting wet once or twice a week.

[CindyLea1]

Can you soak in the bath untill you are ready to wash your hair, wash hair with shower head then get out?

Not sure of your peticular routine. I hope that helps some.

[lindenblossom]

Sometimes I use a plastic claw clip and put my hair in a loose twist if I don't want it to fall into the water.

The last few places I lived in (including the current place) have been without working showers, so I take baths for that reason.

When my hair was near TB I didn't have too much trouble rinsing under the water (mermaid rinse, I think it's called here), even if the bath water was full of soap/shampoo/conditioner (weird, but true).

Filling a pitcher of water and dumping it over your head (while sitting up in the tub) to wet and rinse hair can help a lot if tangles are a problem. The ends might still slip into the tub water, though, and you may be trying to avoid that...

[bumblebums]

How about finishing your bath with a regular shower, when you wash your hair?

Also, I obviously don't know anything about the causes or nature of your back pain, but as someone who has struggled with back problems all of my adult life, I would recommend looking into yoga... It taught me how to strengthen my back, and has generally kept back pain at bay. It can be as gentle or as active as you like, so you don't necessarily have to worry about injuring yourself doing it.

[Joette]

I third (or fourth or fifth) the suggestion to shower for the hair, then soak for the body. It looks like you've got a fair bit of curl, so you could shower to wash your hair, plop (or turban twist) and then soak up some heat.

I have chronic back pain too and I hear you about the need for a good hot soak. I'd been planning to ultimately shoot for TBL myself. I hadn't even considered the difficulty of washing my hair in the bath if I managed to get that length. Oh, the decisions that must be made!

[Anje]

When I take baths (which is pretty rare), I generally end up wetting my hair and loading it with conditioner, then just bunning it and soaking for a while. I stand up and do the final rinse under the shower. When I did more baths and a standard S&C routine, I usually shampooed in the tub, soaked the hair, then sat up and smeared conditioner on. My hair was shorter then, though.

I don't think there was a particular length when I started doing this -- it always just seemed I wasn't getting everything well-rinsed simply by mermaid-soaking the hair in the water I'd just washed myself in, and it seemed likely that I was adding soap back into the hair that way.

[girloctopus]

I would still take my bath, but I would put conditioner on the length, clip it up and let it soak while stewing in the bath and then shower to complete my hair washing, or washing my hair in the shower first, clip up and then soak in the bath. Basically, doing both will probably work best so you can reap the benefits of both bathing methods :)

[myotislucifugus]

Have you got a removable shower head? Maybe you could kneel in the bath and wash your hair with that?

I second this idea. You can take a bath, and then use the shower head while you're in the bath. i've done this when I've needed to wash my hair and wanted to take a bath, and wanted to not waste the water of both a shower and a bath. Additionally, for something like 20 bucks, you can get a shower head with pulsing speeds or back massaging speeds too. I have one that detatches and its great for my back. You could take a bath, wash with the shower head while still in the bath, and then get an aquatic backrub...

[squiggyflop]

i will be trying the washing with the shower after the bath method

[Xandergrammy]

Hmnnn, I'd wash first in shower, then draw the bath, putting my clean washed hair up on my head in some non-damaging way, and enjoy the bath (?)


This sounds like a great idea to me!