High Bun Problem

[Kaya]

Does anyone else have troubles with putting their hair into a relatively high bun? :?
For the most part, I can bun my hair to about mid-way up my head with no issues. But if I try to do anything higher, the bun starts pulling my hair from underneath in a painful way. By underneath, I simple mean the hair coming up from the neck line. I can literally feel the individual hairs being pulled by the roots.
The weird thing is that I don't make the bun any tighter than my normal ones. The only thing that changes is the higher placement.
It's really annoying, cause I like the look of a high bun. My hair just doesn't want to cooperate. :shake:

[Anje]

I can't do it for long. The follicles that are being directed more upward than they're used to start complaining at me, or else they make a fuss when I take my hair down again.

I'm told that you can train the follicles to accept a high bun, just like you can train them to accept a part on the opposite side of the head. But I like to wear a hat that can't fit a bun underneath and I don't feel like putting myself through the process.

[selderon]

You may get more comfort by gently pulling the base of your ponytail up, forward and away from the head in the back to create a little extra space or volume before wrapping the bun.

[ravenreed]

I also prefer high buns but find them more painful. In my case it is because of where my "swirly" is. The hairs are in so many different directions and when I put a bun there, the hairs are so close to the root. Double buns work well, I find. Also, if I anchor the outside of a high bun well, rather than relying on a stick running through the middle, it pulls less.

[UltraBella]

I can only wear high buns, lower ones really get sore for me. I wear a high bun daily at work, and I usually have it in for 12+ hours. No pain at all.
have to start my bun with a ponytail holder or a scrunchie. I like scrunchies because they are so soft and non-damaging. If I try to wrap a bun without starting with a high ponytail secured with a scrunchy, it pulls. I am sure everyone gets tired of me wearing the same bun every day, but it's what works for me. I hope you figure out what works for you, I think a high bun is very flattering.

[christine1989]

I have the opposite problem with high buns; the hair underneath the bun starts to come lose and the bun begins falling out :(. Maybe it would help if you made a looser than normal bun then used a few pins to help keep it in place.

[TiaKitty]

I prefer high buns and have worn them forever... same with my pony tails. I guess it's what you're used to, really. I cannot think of any real way to make it easier though, sorry.

[Karen Marie Shelton]

I used to have problems with super high buns. The roots would hurt while the bun was in and my scalp burned afterwards. Once I started doing a base bun with a wraparound, it worked so much better. I create a top knot with about 50% of my hair and leave the rest out. Almost like a half up/half down. Then I wrap the remaining hair around the knot. The pressure on the roots is distributed better and it just seems not to hurt as much, although I might just be imagining things. But I love when the bun is just a few inches from my hairline. Seems to balance so much better.

[Kathie]

I’ve always worn my buns high with little pain, perhaps I have trained my hair follicles to obey ;)

If I do have any pulling I can usually give my bun a bit of a wriggle to loosen it up a bit, or I slide a pointy comb handle in and up where its pulling again to loosen it a bit.

[Deborah]

I mostly wear my hair in a flipped bun. With this one the base of the bun is lower on your head, but the bun ends up higher. To me it seem like the best of both; the comfort of a low bun with the pretty appearance of a higher bun.

[AnnaJamila]

Lol, I know what you're talking about but for me the pain only hits once I take it down! It's fine all day but when I get home and let my hair down it feels like my scalp is on fire!!!

Lower buns work better with hijab though, they don't do that camel humpty-bumpty bit which seems to be all the rage in Dubai and Yemen . . . But I prefer my yogurt cups in the recycling, not my hair!

Link for those confused (http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PGM5komqCws/SjEamaeHe_I/AAAAAAAAIIY/DWf59NP3uMw/s400/Turkish%2Bhijab%2B12.jpg&imgrefurl=http://ilovehishmatheblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/for-shaikha-pompadour-and-circumstance.html&usg=__TWrFWKzfZm4EDDlDzH8vO2KEopM=&h=400&w=316&sz=36&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=7MRcjIMhhoG06M:&tbnh=142&tbnw=124&ei=kPp-TY-WF8WgtwfUuu3oCA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dyogurt%2Bcup%2Bhijab%26hl%3Den%26biw% 3D1276%26bih%3D580%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=489&vpy=72&dur=4157&hovh=253&hovw=199&tx=132&ty=149&oei=kPp-TY-WF8WgtwfUuu3oCA&page=1&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0)

[GlennaGirl]

It's definitely an overdirection of the hair and is bound to cause some, or many, people problems. I loooooove the look of high buns at the back of the head but I can't do them and have them look good, stay up and not hurt all at the same time.

OTOH, I can do a bun that's actually on top of my head -- on the crown -- but in that case it's just sitting there horizontally on top of something (my big melon) so gravity isn't yanking it back downward in the same way. Plus, with this type of bun you can have a little bit of slack at the nape and that doesn't look bad at all.

That said, I don't usually do this (the bun on top of the head) for going out. I wear my hair to sleep a lot this way, though. It helps coax out a bit of a wave by the following morning, when my hair decides to cooperate.

[Dorothy]

High buns don't hurt me, but I've been doing them for a long time. I flip my head upside down to get a headstart on getting it all up there, then comb it smooth, then smooth it with hands, then twist. All that upside down. I stand up to finish the twisting.

A looser bun may work better for you. I have a new baerris cygnet 7 prong hair fork from the swap board that has helped me make less painful buns. I can't twist my very straight hair tightly into a rope and then expect to thrust that fork through it, so I twist a lot less or not at all and then weave the fork through. This seems to distribute the weight better. But it's definately a crap shoot, or maybe a skill, because half the time when I put the fork in it hurts like hell. Taking the fork out and putting it back in doesn't help, I have to re-do the bun.

You might try starting the bun on the very top of your head with your head upside down, and then stand up and slide it down and back until you have a protective poof of loose hair at the back. This is what happens naturally on my head when I make a bun. It pulls at the front, or at the crown if I've anchored it there, but not at the back.

[Lianna]

I'm another one who wears mostly high buns, the lower ones that are painful! If you do it more, you'll get used to, I think.

[lajsa]

I like the look of high buns but I rarely do them. First, it's difficult to comb my hair properly smooth to do them, because it goes against its natural direction or whatever, so it often gets very chunky and strange. Also, my scalp yells at me if I force the follicles that way. I find it's more comfortable to just wear normal buns. :p

[ElusiveMuse]

I have never been able to get a good high bun because my under-hair will NEVER pull taut against my scalp, so it always looks really sloppy in the back.

[Fufu]

ElusiveMuse: I've this issue too, my back hair will looks poofy.

i do high buns at times for fun, and at times my scalp feels sore i realise it's the way i position my scrunchie.