Extremely weird hair problem

[sadia]

Hello everyone, I am sadia; a newbie. I have mid back length curly black hair. I do not shampoo my hair with organic or traditional shampoos. I have only used heat in my hair 1-2 times in my life when I straightened it to see what it looked like. I have never even blow dried my hair as I don't own a blow dryer. I stopped towel drying my hair a little while ago as well.

I oil my hair extremely frequently using coconut oil, mustard oil, castor oil, or sometimes even canola oil. I remove the oil by saturating my hair with a cheap conditioner and leaving it in for a period of time and then washing it out afterwards giving myself a white vinegar rinse. Oh and I never style my hair either.. it's either in a braid or in a bun.

But lately I have noticed an extremely bizarre problem with my hair. One day as I was combing it, I was paying close attention to my hair and I saw the each of the hair strands had these little bits of dried stuff on them. O.O It could not be dirt as goodness gracious, dirt does not, cannot, I refuse to believe it gets stuck on like the way this stuff is stuck on to my hair. I grabbed one strand of hair and scraped it with my nail, and my nail didnt budge that stuck on "stuff".

Another day, I looked closely to my hair and found a strand that didnt have any of this stuff on it and I ran my fingers over it and the strand was so smooth and slippery. Then I did the same over a strand that had several of those gunky little dried things stuck to it and it was so rough. However, if I ever to generally run my hands through my hair.. my hair feels soft. It does not feel rough at all. It is soft and smooth but individual strands are rough due to the gunk.

I clarified with baking soda and it did absolutely nothing. The gunk did not even budge. Now my guess is that this is a dried sebum that has encased my hair strands at different parts of the length. Really strange, this has never happened before and I have changed nothing in my routine for YEARS.

Any suggestions, advice or is everyone else as clueless as I am?

[neko_kawaii]

Yay! You can post!

I have no idea what it could be but perhaps it is some sort of hard water build up? Or maybe you were baking and got a little bit of dough in your hair? (I have a four year old, I find strange things I attribute to him in my hair on occasion.)

If it doesn't wash out with your regular routine and baking soda clarifying did nothing, maybe try chelating? I'm still unclear on what exactly that means or how to do it. Here is an typical unedifying discussion http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=99165&highlight=chelate. Hopefully a "strange stuff in my hair" guru will be along shortly. (Gurus lurk in the corners and jump out when you least expect them *wink* )

[sadia]

No it could not be general every day dirt because I wet my hair almost everyday and detangle it to remove knots. This stuff whatever it may be has been on my hair for a while. The thing is like I said I rarely let down my hair and don't pay much attention it so I can't possibly know when this stuff started building up. I just know that it's there now and google is not helping whatsoever with identifying what it is.

The stuff is also not oily or wet or pasty. Sometimes you know you can scratch your scalp and there is white stuff underneath the nail that can be squished because it's slightly oily. This is not like that. This is very dry little almost dot like things that are wrapped all around the circumference of the strand at different parts of it.

I don't know what chelating is but i'll look at that thread you posted.

[Rufflebutt]

Definitely sounds like it could be hard-water buildup. I image that the minerals in water would be more hard and resistant like that. Definitely try a chelating shampoo, or possibly getting a water filter.

[sadia]

I do have very hard water. Can you recommend any brands of chelating shampoos?

[neko_kawaii]

No it could not be general every day dirt because I wet my hair almost everyday and detangle it to remove knots. This stuff whatever it may be has been on my hair for a while. The thing is like I said I rarely let down my hair and don't pay much attention it so I can't possibly know when this stuff started building up. I just know that it's there now and google is not helping whatsoever with identifying what it is.

The stuff is also not oily or wet or pasty. Sometimes you know you can scratch your scalp and there is white stuff underneath the nail that can be squished because it's slightly oily. This is not like that. This is very dry little almost dot like things that are wrapped all around the circumference of the strand at different parts of it.

I don't know what chelating is but i'll look at that thread you posted.

I really hate to say this.

My nieces recently had a lice infestation and I had to check my hair too and did a fair bit of reading on how to identify them and get rid of them and that bolded description sounds a lot like a nit or lice egg sac.

I certainly hope there is some other explanation but I would have someone check your hair for lice just to rule that out. Here is the lice thread I found useful: forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=75635 (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=75635)

Keeping my fingers crossed for you that it isn't lice!

[Toadstool]

It sounds like sebum to me. I think it's because you are not shampooing your hair.
The other thing is, could you have headlice? I only ask because the things you describe sound like the egg cases.

[sadia]

-_- If it's lice... I will be so PISSED off.

What are other symptoms of having lice? Nevermind, ill google it!


I really hate to say this.

My nieces recently had a lice infestation and I had to check my hair too and did a fair bit of reading on how to identify them and get rid of them and that bolded description sounds a lot like a nit or lice egg sac.

I certainly hope there is some other explanation but I would have someone check your hair for lice just to rule that out. Here is the lice thread I found useful: forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=75635 (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=75635)

Keeping my fingers crossed for you that it isn't lice!

The link did not work.

Argh -_- I googled. Some of the pictures in googles images does look exactly what like I have on my hair strands; others don't. How awful! I don't even go any where and I am not around kids... how can I get lice?

Okay the article I read says that lice eggs are found near the scalp or the nape of the neck. The stuff on my hair is on the lower part of my length. There is nothing on the scalp or back of the neck.

But just to be cautious, I will look up treatments to remove lice in case this monstrosity does ending up being something as disgusting as that.

[Kaelee]

Could it be that you HAD lice, they all died off and you're left with old egg casings?

I ask because oil will kill lice. They drown in it. It's possible you didn't know you had them, but when you started oiling your hair, you killed them. Now the casings have stayed in your hair all this time and grown out to the ends.

I hope not, because eww! I'd be really grossed out if that happened to me. :(

[sadia]

I really have no idea to be honest. I couldnt even begin to tell you what it feels like to have lice so even if I did, I had absolutely no idea. This didnt even come up in my thought process when I was trying to figure out what exactly was wrong with my hair.

But if this is actually the problem, I am still floored as to how I contacted lice in the first place. I am a muslim who wears the hijab when outside in public so it couldn't be that. No one in family has lice, at least any we are aware of. How could this possibly have happened?

And yes, I do oil my hair A LOT. Almost every night, so if they were there... they are all dead now.

[jeanniet]

My first thought was lice as well. I've had them and didn't know it. They do lay the nits closer to the scalp, but if you weren't aware your hair could have grown out. It's entirely possible someone else in your family had them without knowing, or possibly they were on some new hijab fabric or clothing brought into the house.

ETA: You do need to find out for sure if this is lice, because if it is everyone in your family needs to be treated, as well as bedding, furniture, etc. Otherwise you may keep getting them and it's a real nightmare.

[piffyanne]

I'd pluck a hair with the possible casings and apply vinegar to it. Apparently vinegar releases the chemical bonds holding the eggs to the hair. I don't know if it would work after all this time, but it might be a way to check. Do you feel comfortable showing your hair to your doctor? He/she would be able to identify lice eggs very easily and accurately.

Haircheckups within your family (of course, not showing your hair to anyone in your family you're not supposed to, etc) might be in order to make sure no one's still wandering around anyone's scalps.

Once you know what it is, you're much better equipped to deal with it.

Happy growing! :flower:

[joflakes]

Nothing to add but I really hope you get this sorted and that it isn't lice. Good luck! :flower:

[MinderMutsig]

Oh ew I feel for you that's gross. It does sounds like lice.

I second the family checks and if it is/was lice treating everything in the house to stop them from coming back. Since you wear a hijab the only way I can conceive you getting lice is if someone in your immediate family or close friends has/had them. Someone who is around you at home when you are not wearing your scarf.

[julliams]

Egg sacks are never at the end of the hair but around 1cm from the root. If you had egg sacks on every strand of hair on your head it would be the worst lice infestation ever and I'm sure you would know about it. It doesn't sound like lice to me.

[furnival]

I suggest looking at some magnified pictures of the eggs of head lice on google images, then examining one of your bumpy hairs under a magnifying glass. Hopefully this will give you a better idea of what the problem might be.
I hope you find an explanation!

[lydiajo]

Sadia,

My thought is that it is from hard water. I've seen this before with some of my female patients. Good luck in finding out.

Lydia

[continuum88]

i was wondering if you're getting your hair trimmed regularly cos if you google "types of split ends" you'll see that one of the types looks like what you've described

[Mischamiu]

I hope it isn't lice :blossom: because that would be a hard piece of work... If not I would just shampoo my scalp and let it run threw my length

[sadia]

Okay I can't afford the check up. But one member here mentioned that oil drowns them.. so yup, I went and did a crazy hot oil treatment. I applied A LOT of oil and this time around, I will shampoo it out. Afterwards, I will do a strong vinegar rinse, undiluted.

I will try to see if I can get a picture of this stuff, close up of a few strands.

[sadia]

i was wondering if you're getting your hair trimmed regularly cos if you google "types of split ends" you'll see that one of the types looks like what you've described

Oh I see what you mean! I found another thread on this forum about this.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=30538

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh200/sarah4983/hairdots2.jpg

^^ That's EXACTLY what I have!!!! Just like that but so many of them!

[sadia]

Okay I really think it may not have anything to do with lice as this stuff is concentrated on the last 3-4 inches of my hair. There is nothing on my scalp at all.

The white spot split ends seem to be the best fit. http://pittsburghcurly.wordpress.com/2009/07/05/the-battle-of-trichorrhexis-nodosa/

My hair ends are not even. The hair strands grow at different rates and my sad excuse of cutting jobs didnt help out much so they look even worse but only cosmetically speaking. Otherwise the strands are actually healthy. Well so I thought they were, the ends are not split at all but I guess I have this type of white spot split ends instead.

I guess I am just stuck with this.. I mean I don't do any bad things to my hair. I am trying to be even more gentle to it. I plan on purchasing a silk scarf and a wooden wide tooth comb soon.

[WickedLady]

In a normal healthy person's scalp about 85% of the hair follicles are actively growing hair (anagen hair) and 15% are resting hair (telogen hair). A hair follicle usually grows anagen hair for 4 years or so, then rests for about 4 months. The resting or telogen hair has a club or bulb at the tip. A new anagen hair begins to grow under the resting telogen hair and pushes it out.

Thus, it is normal to lose up to about 100 hairs a day on one's comb, brush, in the basin or on the pillow, as a result of the normal scalp hair cycle.

[Kaelee]

I would have thought white dots would not be "hard" though? When I get them, they're pretty fragile. If I ran a fingernail over them, the hair would probably snap right off. They would never feel "hard".

Then again, I have very fine hair, too.

[sadia]

^^ I don't really know the case. Hair is so complex. But just to be sure, I will try different lice treatments, i'll try chelating to eliminate these concerns. If they dont go away then my best guess is they probably white spot split ends. Whatever they are though, they are not affecting the growth of my hair.

I suppose we just wait and see what happens. lol

[WickedLady]

^^ I don't really know the case. Hair is so complex. But just to be sure, I will try different lice treatments, i'll try chelating to eliminate these concerns. If they dont go away then my best guess is they probably white spot split ends. Whatever they are though, they are not affecting the growth of my hair.

I suppose we just wait and see what happens. lol

I would see a dermatologist. I have those on the ends of my hair as they fall out and they arent lice.

[neko_kawaii]

Phew! So glad to hear there was a better explanation than lice!

If you want to get rid of the white ends, get a good sharp pair of hair scissors (don't let them be used for anything but hair) and go through your hair in small sections and snip each hair with a dot (or split if you find any of those). This is referred to as Search and Destroy or S&D. How much you need to trim off each strand will depend on your hair and you can experiment a bit with this. If you cut off a dot and a new one is visible on the same hair immediately, keep trimming that hair until no dots appear. If you determine that most hairs need a significant amount removed and an over all trim would be a better use of your time, there are some self trimming methods described in the forums, Frey's is the name that pops into my mind.

Good luck!

[sadia]

Phew! So glad to hear there was a better explanation than lice!

If you want to get rid of the white ends, get a good sharp pair of hair scissors (don't let them be used for anything but hair) and go through your hair in small sections and snip each hair with a dot (or split if you find any of those). This is referred to as Search and Destroy or S&D. How much you need to trim off each strand will depend on your hair and you can experiment a bit with this. If you cut off a dot and a new one is visible on the same hair immediately, keep trimming that hair until no dots appear. If you determine that most hairs need a significant amount removed and an over all trim would be a better use of your time, there are some self trimming methods described in the forums, Frey's is the name that pops into my mind.

Good luck!

If I were to do this, I would have to cut off 3-4 inches of my hair straight across.

[Arya]

If I were to do this, I would have to cut off 3-4 inches of my hair straight across.

It can be worth it. Splits can travel up the hair shaft and basically unravel your hair. Why not do some microtrims over the next few months? And going through your hair one by one looking for splits won't kill your length, but it will keep your hair healthier. You could do a combination of the two, but either way, splits usually need to be cut off sooner or later before they spread.

[spidermom]

Try putting your fingers on either side of one of these nodules and pull. White dots snap apart very easily. If they don't, it's probably not the dreaded white dot. I'd suspect a buildup of some sort and, as discussed, old lice nits that have grown out from scalp to near ends. If your head isn't itching, you don't have a current lice problem.

[WickedLady]

dermatologist

[Anje]

Try putting your fingers on either side of one of these nodules and pull. White dots snap apart very easily. If they don't, it's probably not the dreaded white dot. I'd suspect a buildup of some sort and, as discussed, old lice nits that have grown out from scalp to near ends. If your head isn't itching, you don't have a current lice problem.

This. See if the hair breaks if you pull on either side of the white spot.

Another possibility is that you have buildup from the oils that you used. Many of your more unsaturated oils (grapeseed, sunflower, safflower, flax, maybe canola, etc.) can change with exposure to oxygen into a more resinous substance. These are termed "drying oils" because they can harden. You might find similar splatters of oxidized oil around your stove if you cook on top regularly and haven't been diligent about wiping the walls down.

[sadia]

This. See if the hair breaks if you pull on either side of the white spot.

Another possibility is that you have buildup from the oils that you used. Many of your more unsaturated oils (grapeseed, sunflower, safflower, flax, maybe canola, etc.) can change with exposure to oxygen into a more resinous substance. These are termed "drying oils" because they can harden. You might find similar splatters of oxidized oil around your stove if you cook on top regularly and haven't been diligent about wiping the walls down.

Okay I clarified my hair with a very strong sulfate shampoo and after i rinsed it out, I did what you asked me to do. The shampooing frankly did nothing and I even took palm fulls of my hair length and rubbed them against each other by moving my hands side to side. It did nothing.

Then after I had come out of the shower, I did what you asked me to do and tried to scrape the stuff of with my nail. Some of them did come off very easily and when they came off, the strand was black underneath. Most did not come off.

Now my guess is that this maybe build up because it could be scraped off... and the hair looked normal underneath it. Maybe I should go and purchase jojoba oil because I have heard it is similar to the sebum produced by our own bodies so maybe likes dissolve likes will work here.

[heidi w.]

I wonder that you're simply using too much oil and it's causing buildup of some sort and you need to clarify again using Baking Soda again. That is 3 Tablespoons of Baking Soda well blended till creamy with your fave shampoo. Or despite not using heat, it's a white dot.

A white dot is a weak spot in the hair. Hair breaks off very easily. Is it easy to break this hair off right at the spot of the schmutz on your hair?

To fix hard water, one needs to either soften the water somehow such as a water softener, OR with a shower head filter which is easy to install after purchase. Change the filter when you're supposed to. Find a filter that it's kind of easy to find that filter again.

Hope things improve soon.
heidi w.

PS. Make sure to really rinse your hair very well.

[heidi w.]

I think you have a kind of mould. Check with a doctor. IMMEDIATELY. That black statement is leading me in that direction. Go to the doctor as quickly as you can. This is likely a result of using too much oil. The amount of oil you describe using is essentially keeping your hair kind of wet daily, all day long. Yes, hair can mould. Look it up on the internet. It's unusual in the U.S. but it does occur. Do you have any mold anywhere in your house? It's very hard to find moldy hair photos; I just went and looked on the internet, but moldy hair is reported.

heidi w.

[sadia]

I think you have a kind of mould. Check with a doctor. IMMEDIATELY. That black statement is leading me in that direction. Go to the doctor as quickly as you can. This is likely a result of using too much oil. The amount of oil you describe using is essentially keeping your hair kind of wet daily, all day long. Yes, hair can mould. Look it up on the internet. It's unusual in the U.S. but it does occur.

heidi w.

Oh no no, I didn't clarify correctly. My hair color is black and this stuff is sort of yellowish whitish color and the size of sand grains. When I scraped it off, the hair underneath looked normal and black.

[sadia]

I wonder that you're simply using too much oil and it's causing buildup of some sort and you need to clarify again using Baking Soda again. That is 3 Tablespoons of Baking Soda well blended till creamy with your fave shampoo. Or despite not using heat, it's a white dot.

A white dot is a weak spot in the hair. Hair breaks off very easily. Is it easy to break this hair off right at the spot of the schmutz on your hair?

To fix hard water, one needs to either soften the water somehow such as a water softener, OR with a shower head filter which is easy to install after purchase. Change the filter when you're supposed to. Find a filter that it's kind of easy to find that filter again.

Hope things improve soon.
heidi w.

PS. Make sure to really rinse your hair very well.

Still it is odd. I mean I have been doing this for years and no problems. Traditional pakistani hair care routine is exactly like Indian hair care that's why I am so oil happy. I just grew up doing this.

But okay sure, i'll lay off of it.

I also tried to do the hair breaking thing. The hair does break but not necessarily at the white spots. It breaks wherever there was most tension and I broke several of my hairs and they all broke at the healthy normal looking parts of the strands.

[jeanniet]

I would have thought white dots would not be "hard" though? When I get them, they're pretty fragile. If I ran a fingernail over them, the hair would probably snap right off. They would never feel "hard".

Then again, I have very fine hair, too.

My hair isn't fine and I'd say the same thing. I don't get a whole lot of splits, but I do get the dots, and they break off at the least bit of pressure.

At least it does sound like there's a non-"lousy" explanation, haha.

[Arya]

The best way to diagnose if it's a white dot (I find) is to hold the hair on either side of the dot and push them. If the hair buckles instead of bends (forms a L shape instead of a C) at the point of the white dot, you know it's breakage.

Other than that, nooo idea. Maybe the drying oil thing. Maybe some coating or something from the inside of your hijab? Are the dots well distributed throughout your hair, or centralised in a certain spot? Either way, it's got to be some sort of build up if it's not white dots. No chance you could post a close up or PM a picture for diagnosis, eh?

[heidi w.]

For oiling you should be able to get away with oiling once a week, or just the ends somewhat lightly on a daily basis.

heidi w.

[Audrey Horne]

Sorry for the question but is your hair very dry? If you use soooooo much oil it must be really dry, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's white dots and your hair breaks off. Could be build-up too... Or lint. But the rest of your hair is just fine? If it's the last inches that break off I'd just cut them off. Try to take a photo, it is really hard to imagine what we are talking about.

[PixieKitten]

I get those white dots too sometimes, and mine aren't fragile at all.. sometimes it can take multiple attempts to try and scratch them off! I dusted my hair the other day and took about a centimetre or less off the ends, and I think I got most of them! I have layered hair though, so I probably didn't get the ones higher up!

[sadia]

Sorry for the question but is your hair very dry? If you use soooooo much oil it must be really dry, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's white dots and your hair breaks off. Could be build-up too... Or lint. But the rest of your hair is just fine? If it's the last inches that break off I'd just cut them off. Try to take a photo, it is really hard to imagine what we are talking about.

mmm dry not horrendously dry.