Help me please!

[Poetic]

I was hoping I might find a wee bit of help with a problem I am having. You see I have not been feeling well. And in between caring for myself and my mother I have neglected my hair. You see I put my hair up in braids . . . large braids. The problem is when I went to take them down, though the end came apart with some effort on my part, about and inch or two from my roots the hair has somehow matted and the braids have fused together. I don't want to cut my hair off, it is tailbone length. Thus, I am hoping someone might have a suggestion as to how I might detangle my root. I have been attempting to detangle for over a week now with little success.

Also I had the misfortune of having one of the bobby pins used to secure my braids fall out so that with the matting and all, one particular braid has now wrapped onto itself and I can't find its (the braid's) end. As I have now forgotten in what direction I secured the braid I don't know how to go about taking it down. Hence, any ideas as to how I might attempt to unbraid this hair would be greatly appreciated

[Miss Murphy]

Oy, that sounds like a real sticky situation!

I would suggest getting some conditioner with silicones, drench your braids in it, end then try to detangle. Some members even got dreadlocks out with that technique, with only minimum damage.

[FrannyG]

I second the suggestion of using a ton of conditioner with cones. You might even add some olive oil to the mix. Then be very, very patient as you work the hairs out one by one.

You can get out of this fix, I know it. :flowers:

[Pegasus Marsters]

Tons of conditioner and patience are what you need. Soak your hair in conditioner... if in doubt MORE conditioner. Then you can detangle it a little at a time, starting from the ends :flowers:

[Liv]

I too suggest a lot of conditioner, and maybe you could get someone to help you remove the bobby pin and carefully unwrap the braid. It's not always easy to do it by oneself, so a little help can be good.

Best of luck.

[Poetic]

Tons of conditioner . . . I will try this. Thank you.:flowers:

[lora410]

I also suggest the heavy condish with olive oil mixture and then I suggest probably a SMALL trim to get rid of the damanged ends.

[angelthadiva]

Aw, you poor thing!! I have nothing new to add, for I was going to suggest condish or oils myself, and enlist the help of a trusty friend...

Good luck!! :flower:

[Kirin]

though for general haircare most avoid it, I highly recommend something with mineral oil in it. Baby oil, or heavy pomades or products that you can slather on thick and will STAY and can get worked into the matted hair.

It will be difficult to wash out, but thats preferrable to the matted hair. Work in the oil/pomade with fingers and massage it into the mat, slowly working to "pull" the mat apart like pulling apart unspun wool mats. Do it gently and it will come out. My daughters get these all the time.

[Mitzy]

Yep, lots and lots of conditioner with a little olive oil and finger (nail) combing. Eventually you can probably work it to the point where you can get a very wide tooth comb through. From there on you are home free. Once you can comb through, at least with your fingers, you can work with it. After you get the mats out, you might need to trim some.
We used this to take out my daughters dreads and she didn't lose much length, but it took about 6 mos to get her hair back into shape.

[Poetic]

I have sent my sister out for conditioner and a Denman brush. The brush I will need to use, one would think, once I get the roots undone. I will keep everyone posted on my progress. If I can save my hair I shall post pictures. Thanks again.

[jojo]

I also suggest get a bottle of cheap coney condish and apply loads, soak your braids for a good hour and rinse out, hope this works for you, sounds my worst nightmare.

[Ohio Sky]

Oy vey! Sounds awful. My only suggestion is what everyone else suggested, lots and lots of conditioner. Someone said olive oil, and this may work for some, but I find sweet almond oil to be better for tangles.

I suggest doing a nice SMT or something when all is done before you decide if you need a trim or how much.

Please let us know how it goes!

[Islandgrrl]

I have nothing to add suggestion wise - everyone else is right on with the condish suggestions.

Seriously be patient with the process. It could take a while.

Be really careful with brushing. In fact, don't do it for a while. Finger comb first, then wide tooth comb. I think after such tangly trauma to your hair, it might be a little fragile in places and brushing seems kind of harsh. Maybe take a little time (a couple weeks?) to baby it before brushing.

[bunnii]

also agreeing with the coney condish, i once left a braid in for a week thinking it would be fine and had to sit for hours detangling , then i tried the conditioner and i got the matted tangles out (it did take a while though) good luck and hope you get it sorted :)

[heidi w.]

Some type of conditioner or detangler, such as one that's intended for children, might be helpful.

I hope you don't have to cut your hair, though.

There's no guarantee.

You'll need a second person and a lot of patience!

heidi w.

[burns_erin]

My DH ended up with a matt like that. We heavily oiled (coconut oil warmed), but since it was so matted, the oil did not seem to penetrate. So we took one of those squirt bottles with a thin tip, wallowed into the matt and just filled it up. We did it several times in different spots on the matt. Then I used a chop stick to help me separate it out. There was a bit of breakage, and we did have to cut a small chunk out, but most of it was saved. The only part we really had to cut out was a chunk of industrial grade tacky tape used for holding sheetmetal together, that was what had gotten his matt started but it ended up almost 3 inches in diameter by the end of the day.

[Poetic]

My DH ended up with a matt like that. We heavily oiled (coconut oil warmed), but since it was so matted, the oil did not seem to penetrate. So we took one of those squirt bottles with a thin tip, wallowed into the matt and just filled it up. We did it several times in different spots on the matt. Then I used a chop stick to help me separate it out. There was a bit of breakage, and we did have to cut a small chunk out, but most of it was saved. The only part we really had to cut out was a chunk of industrial grade tacky tape used for holding sheetmetal together, that was what had gotten his matt started but it ended up almost 3 inches in diameter by the end of the day.

Oh my gosh, I never thought of using a pointed tip to squirt oil into the matted hair. :rolleyes:Thank you!!:flowers::bowtome:

[jojo]

Some type of conditioner or detangler, such as one that's intended for children, might be helpful.

I hope you don't have to cut your hair, though.

There's no guarantee.

You'll need a second person and a lot of patience!

heidi w.

*hijack* Heidi, I love your new siggi, I need sunglasses for the shine here:cool:

[Poolsoflaughter]

Wow, Poetic, I'm really sorry to hear about your hair getting in such trouble. I'm glad that you've had so many prompt responses thus far; I would have suggested the conditioner soak as well...Aussie's 3 minute Miracle would be good if others do not work. Good luck, and I hope that you get a positive result! :grouphug:

[MotherConfessor]

do tell us how it turns out, best of luck to you.

[LuXious]

Yeah, detangle it like I do the spaghetti that sits in the strainer too long and is all stuck together... olive oil!

[Poetic]

Thank you for the support everyone.:) I have made progress, thanks to the many suggestions offered. It seems I shall have to cut off a small piece of hair in the back by several inches.:scissors: I dare say it is the main culprit to my problems; and the braid, thought not big, seems to be what is making the other braids fuse together, so that I cannot properly unravel the roots.

If I am right, and cutting the braid will help with the remainder of my hair, this is not such a big price to pay . . . maybe. :confused::shrug:

[burns_erin]

Glad I was able to add something different. On antoher note, if I know I will be leaving my hair in a braid for an extended period of time, I oild heavily before I braid. And by heavy I mean dripping. It seems to keep it from sticking and matting so badly.