How do I brush out my thick, coarse, snarly hair in the middle in the back?

[First Timer]

My hair is also thick and it works perfectly on my hair, it might be worth a shot. You can also try oiling your hair to help with brushing. You should detangle from the bottom up to work out any mats that may have built up. Good luck!

The problem isn't that my hair is thick, it's that it's coarse and grabby. I hugged a lady in my church once, and my hair pulled a bobby pin right out of HER hair… and then it took us several minutes to get it dug out, lol!

I'm not trying to detangle my hair, I'm trying to figure out how to reach a part of my hair that I can't currently reach and get it brushed smooth like the rest of my hair. :-)

[First Timer]

Welcome First Timer. I also have coarse hair but I haven't experienced the problem that you are describing although my hair also almost never tangles. I'm guessing that your hair is more curly than my wavy hair. You didn't mention if you comb your hair. I use a wide toothed comb and I make sure to comb both from the top and from underneath. I do comb my hair both when wet or dry once or twice a day as needed or when putting it up. Sometimes I even comb in the shower to distribute conditioner. I almost never brush my hair but when I do the brush only gets through the surface of my hair.

Thank you for the welcome! :-)

I'm glad to see someone else who has coarse hair that rarely tangles; so often people assume that coarse hair must be extra-tangly.

My hair unbrushed is fairly wavy, and curls at the ends. I can't get any kind of comb through it unless it's wet. I brush mine from the top and from underneath just like you do except with a brush instead of a comb. I also use a comb in the shower to distribute conditioner; I don't even know how else I could get it worked throughout my hair. I have to spread my hair out in order to get everything brushed even with top and bottom brushing combined.

Is that your photo with the lovely braid? Do you by any chance sleep with your hair braided? What happens if you sleep with it unbraided? I'm a very restless sleeper, and can't sleep on braids, so when I wake up my hair is just WILD! I can brush it back flat quickly enough… Except that ONE patch!

[lapushka]

Can I ask you what texture your hair is? Is it wavy, curly or smooth? Because that matters.

Textured hair you only need to detangle when wet & full of conditioner. Do *not* brush wavy or curly hair at all when it's dry or you'll be asking for trouble.

Ooooops, my bad, now I read the post immediately above mine, and you answered that already.

Yeah, detangle when it's wash day!

[First Timer]

Just to be absolutely sure, you are TURNING your head sideways, (ie head stays vertical while the chin moves to the shoulder) not TILTING your head (chin stays in front while one ear goes to the shoulder)? I am just double checking because when I TURN my head, the nape of my neck is almost over my opposite shoulder and I can get at the hair quite easily. My hair texture is totally different from yours though, so maybe this isn't as helpful?

No matter how I twist, turn or tilt my head, I can't reach the patch that I'm trying to brush, which is well BELOW the nape of the neck; the hair at the nape of the neck gets brushed when I brush straight down from the top of my head... but I can only brush down so far. When my hair was shorter, I could brush it at a little bit of an angle, and that brought my hair up enough to reach this area… But now, my hair is way too long and heavy to be able to do that anymore. I cringe to think what my hair must've looked like from the back for the past year!

[First Timer]

I have had the big dreadlocks looking thing in the back of my head before, usually at the nape. I have since learned my lesson about lazy detangling.

That said, there are different ways to approach knots and tangles. For example, our washer sometimes weaves all the arms and legs of the laundry together. I have seen other people untangle it the hard way, but I just grab one article of clothing and literally shake it free, which gives the rest less complication. The next one is easier to shake free. The rest just sort of fall apart after that.

What I'm getting at here is that whatever big clump you have back there doesn't sound like it's responding to whatever you're doing, which is making it a ton of work. Try other angles. Sometimes I fine that trying to pull a brush through something just tightens the tangles. If this occurs, I just hold the whole thing with one hand and pull a few strands straight up and see if the slide out. If so, I repeat the process until the whole thing is loose enough to pull it all apart in big chunks and just brush it. Some things need to be brushed from the bottom. Some things brush out best all at once. Some things need to be more or less dissected.

Anyway, since people already gave you good advice on how to reach the affected hair, I thought maybe I'd share what I've learned about huge rat's nests on my head in case you haven't tried different methods yet

I'm trying to imagine what the dreadlocks thing looks like… I don't think I've ever seen that on anyone. Certainly not on my head! I very rarely get tangles, and even then it's only ONE tangle at a time. The area I'm trying to brush doesn't have tangled hair, it's just disheveled and needs to be brushed down firmly to have the same length and texture as the rest of my hair. I don't have a tangling issue, I have an issue that all the rest of my hair except that one spot is brushed firmly so it lays down smooth with a very flat wave, and then I have this one piece that has my natural texture and just looks awful.

I'm not sure how to describe the problem any more clearly, so maybe it's just that no one else here has this issue?

[First Timer]

Can I ask you what texture your hair is? Is it wavy, curly or smooth? Because that matters.

Textured hair you only need to detangle when wet & full of conditioner. Do *not* brush wavy or curly hair at all when it's dry or you'll be asking for trouble.

Ooooops, my bad, now I read the post immediately above mine, and you answered that already.

Yeah, detangle when it's wash day!

The natural texture of my hair is pretty wavy and then curls at the end. My hair isn't EVER tangled, so I never have to detangle it. The only way to have my hair look attractive is to brush it; the hair that's properly brushed looks perfect… This one patch that I can't get to looks terrible!

[enting]

If I'm understanding correctly, you're looking to have your brushed out texture everywhere and there's one spot that stays in its natural texture because you can't brush it straight down?

Would an extra long handled brush help?
Would brushing upside down help get to that area or would that just make everything more unruly?

Alternately, would you want to lean into the natural texture of your hair everywhere so that one chunk doesn't stand out?

[lapushka]

The natural texture of my hair is pretty wavy and then curls at the end. My hair isn't EVER tangled, so I never have to detangle it. The only way to have my hair look attractive is to brush it; the hair that's properly brushed looks perfect… This one patch that I can't get to looks terrible!

Um yeah but snarly means tangled, right? Now I'm confused.

[bokeh]

Thank you for the welcome! :-)

I'm glad to see someone else who has coarse hair that rarely tangles; so often people assume that coarse hair must be extra-tangly.

My hair unbrushed is fairly wavy, and curls at the ends. I can't get any kind of comb through it unless it's wet. I brush mine from the top and from underneath just like you do except with a brush instead of a comb. I also use a comb in the shower to distribute conditioner; I don't even know how else I could get it worked throughout my hair. I have to spread my hair out in order to get everything brushed even with top and bottom brushing combined.

Is that your photo with the lovely braid? Do you by any chance sleep with your hair braided? What happens if you sleep with it unbraided? I'm a very restless sleeper, and can't sleep on braids, so when I wake up my hair is just WILD! I can brush it back flat quickly enough… Except that ONE patch!

Your problem must be frustrating because you know that you like how your hair styles with a brush but just that one spot won't smooth out! I have no doubt that you will get it figured out. Just don't give up and try everything! Do you have someone who could work on that spot for you?

That photo is me and I do sleep with my hair braided but I also wear a sleep cap over it. I sit on the edge of the bed and quickly and carelessly braid all the way to the end. I don't tie it off at all but just stuff it into a satin lined scrub cap. I'm also a very restless sleeper and this works for me. Before the sleep cap I also woke up with WILD hair and I'm sure it was getting damaged during the night from my tossing and turning.

[Belle03]

Hello, I would first use a wooden comb on the hair. Get a product specifically for detangling to help soften the section and loosen the hair. You could also get a metal handle "rat tail comb" and use the handle to break through the hair. My hair is 4b kinky, and using the wooden comb to detangle works wonders.