Single strand knots?

[CoilyCurlyME]

Hi. :)
I dont really have any split ends, but i do get some single strand knots.

I never go to trim my hair at a salon, so i do the ends for myself and that's not to often. But back to the single strand knots. I dont really care much about them, because they are not visible or anything and i never straighten my hair.

But i cant help but wonder if they will slow my hair growth or break hairs, cuzz if i deffintly think i soon should look at them.

So i wanna ask you if it doesnt really matter to have ssk or if i should look a little at my ends soon?

[white.chocolate]

They won't slow down your growth; that's not possible. But I sometimes treat them as split ends because I noticed that they tend to break off at some point later. I'm not entirely sure if I'm doing the healthy thing, but I just leave them be unless they're located at the ends of the strands. In that case I cut it off. They won't untie, that I noticed also, but I suppose that depends on the hair type? I don't get these knots a lot, so I don't particularly care for them as much. I get them the most when my hair has been down for a while and when there were some tangles going on.

[theodora]

I get these a lot and they're really problematic for me because usually other strands of hair will get tangled around the single strand knot. They're a pain really.

[princesitamaria]

those are split ends- if you go to the article section there are pictures of every kind of split end you can possibly have- I get them too- I was told to just S&D and when you find a split end you cut 1/4 above it- if the rest of your ends are healthy you dont have to do an overall trim- hope this helps :D

[Loreley]

I have them too. I don't know what causes them but I always cut them. I noticed that when I use cones I get a lot more knots. :confused:

[Charybdis]

My curly DH gets SSKs, and I cut them out if I'm detangling his hair. He's too impatient, and swipes the brush through and just breaks the hairs when there's a tangle! Aaargh! My observation, like Theodora's, is that the SSKs tend to serve as "seeds" for bigger tangles, and you can avert serious tangles by removing the SSKs. But I wouldn't worry about them if somehow they don't make your hair get more tangles.

[Madora]

I rarely get them, but when I spot one, it gets cut immediately. To me, a single strand knot is just waiting to get tangled with other hairs, which creates more problems. Better to get rid of it and avoid any problems later.

[Impulsive]

I get a lot of single strand knots. I cut them when I find them no matter how far up the strand they are, because I've found that they make larger knots and my hair behaves better without them. There are probably some people who allow them to stay and I know there are a couple who go through the trouble of taking out the knot using oil and a needle (I've tried this. It did work, but it left the strand weaker, and I eventually decided cutting was the better deal for the amount of time and effort involved). Still, it's your hair. Do as you like with it. If the knots aren't bothering you, you don't have to remove them.

[jacqueline101]

They're called fairy knots and I don't know what causes them. I work mine out with detangler. I'm not a fan of them but I don't want to cut my hair.

[CSallaround]

I get them too once in a while. I don't really do anything about it, but seems I will try to cut them off as adviced in other posts on this thread

[ravenreed]

My suspicion is that when I get a knotted tangle and carefully work the hairs apart, one of the hairs that was twisted around all the others has the knot left in it, which then tightens into a fairy knot. I cut them because as others have said, they can be the cause of more tangles.

[Amber_Maiden]

I cut them as soon as I notice them. They can break your hair.

[CoilyCurlyME]

Thanks for the advices. I just spend some time to get rid of many of them. :) It's nice to just get it done, because i also think it's so anoying when they start making small tangles.