cutting out a lock?

[Vertigo]

so I've got some very long hair... nearly 6 years without a cut, goes almost all the way down my back and it's been a battle keeping it under control especially since I don't really know what I'm doing. I'll be looking around this forum for advice on caring for it but for now I just have one question

there's this matted part up high towards the back, smaller than a plumb but larger than a cherry. As I detangle hair from the outside I get this crazy medusa thing going where strands of totally tangle free hair come out in all directions. I can chip away at this with a pick and conditioner and just my fingers and it seems to be getting smaller but it's to taking forever. I've gotten through worse before if it's size/density is any measure (and I don't know any other) but it's a huge nuisance and making maintenance on everything else harder too. What if I just cut it? There's only like a quarter inch of hair feeding into it from my scalp... I know when it's short it will stick up and look funny but when it grows out a bit longer (4 inches?) will it still be really obvious?

[Raqdoll]

My suggestion is to keep at with a pick and lots of conditioner. Do it with the rest of your hair pulled up and out of the way. If you've got a friend who would be willing to come and work it out, that would be the ideal situation. My gut instinct is that if you cut it out, you'll still get tangles in that area since it appears as though that is tangle zone for you.

I look forward to what other LHC'ers with more experience have to say on the matter.

And welcome to the forum!

[BeckyAH]

Even if you cut it at the base, you're going to end up with cut free hair - tangled to other hair, still attached to your head and in your hair. IF you cut out the entire mat, you're going to be cutting far more hair than the quarter inch lock that starts the knot. Which means you're going to have lots and lots of different length hairs in that area. Honestly? I'd stick with the conditioner and pick/your fingers/a comb. If you really can't get it, then cutting's going to have to happen, but I'd be prepared for a major hair cut afterward. (Depending on how much hair you have pulled into it, and how much untangled hair you have OVER it.

[growingpains]

I also vote for trying to get the tangle out with a PIC/fingers/conditioner. If you aren't using conditioners with silicone (ie. in LHC lingo "cones") in them, you should, at least to help get the tangle out, as silicone is the main ingredient in conditioner which provides "slip". You can do a google search with the terms "LHC" and "cones" and lots of info will come up about it, but basically cones are ingredients that generally end in "-cone" like dimethicone for example. Some people on LHC prefer no cone for a variety of reasons but other love them and if you have a tangle they should help.

As far as hair care goes, to avoid tangles you should detangle your hair with your fingers and/or a wide tooth comb at least twice a day. Once detangled hair should be restrained when possible. Braids are good, so are buns. The idea is the less the hairs rubs against one another, the less they get tangled up.

Silk or satin pillowcases help at night, as does wearing hair up for bed.