Just joined, severely matted hair due to living in a mould infested house

[KittyKmew]

Hi everyone,

I have recently joined and I have lurked here in the past over the last few years. I have spent years growing my hair. It's ironic, when it finally got the length I always wanted (down to my thighs) we had a major damp and mould problem in our home. We asked the landlord to fix it, etc, he refused. We ended up buying tins of damp seal, bottles of mould killer, bleach, vinegar etc - but nothing worked. We asked him to remove the cladding to let the bricks breathe - he refused, insisting it was insulating the property. We asked him 5 years previously to re-point the brick work - he didn't.

Sorry for the back story - just thought I needed to explain as for the reasons why it started affecting my hair. It began with it falling out - from root to tip. Absolutely loads of it. Then, it started getting extremely knotty - my partner needed to sit there for hours every night trying to detangle it. We moved out a couple of months ago and we have improved greatly in our health, but there's one issue left, my hair is still extremely matted It has completely destroyed it.

I wondered if there's anything at all I could do to help save it. My partner used to be able to detangle it and get my long hair flowing again, but it got so bad in the last six months that it seems impossible to detangle it. The bits he has managed to get out are snapping off, so that it's short, down to my chin or shorter. Short hair really does not suit me and I am devastated, especially after spending over a decade taking care of it and growing it.

The thing is also, he can only do small amounts at a time as we are both still recovering from mould poisoning, and it has taken up residence in my hair. It smells of it when it is disturbed. I have rubbed garlic on it and washed it several times, which has made it softer but the problem remains. Last night he attempted to continue with the detangling but it made me very sick. It's frustrating. We took a pair of scissors to one of the matted lumps - we cut it vertically in the hopes that it would make it easier to separate. That unfortunately wasn't the case - instead I lost a good chunk of my hair and the matted lump still remains. I was very upset.

My doctor told me that vinegar will not work, as it feeds this particular type of mould, which we already know anyway as it didn't touch it when we lived at the other house, it just seemed to make things worse.

I wondered if any of you knew if there is anything at all that I could do, is there anything I could do to help my hair untangle (preferably as quickly as possible with minimum illness). Do I need to cut it all off

Thank you for reading, I am based in the United Kingdom if it helps as I don't have access to products from abroad.

[Lady Stardust]

Hello, and welcome to the forum, from a fellow UK dweller! I’m sorry to hear about the circumstances though.

You might get more responses if you post in the Mane Forum - just copy and paste what you’ve written above.

I don’t have any advice I’m afraid. I’ve seen threads in the past where people have suggested whatever it is they use to detangle horses manes to get rid of mats. I’m really icky about mould, the smell alone is enough to make me feel sick. How much of your hair is matted? Is it feasible to cut the mats out and leave the rest?

I hope you can sort something out, one way or another.

[lapushka]

Welcome to the forum.

Could the problems be from added stress, and poor diet (because usually we suffer from circumstances like that), in which case it's no luxury to have some bloodwork done... if you haven't already.

[EdG]

Welcome!

I am sorry to hear about the mold. While mold can grow in matted hair, it may not be the cause.

My advice to people experiencing severe matting is to check for lint. Lint wraps itself around the hairs and holds the hairs together. If you find lint, you need to comb it out carefully. This will take time.
Ed

[lithostoic]

Soak your hair in coconut or almond oil overnight. Worst that can happen is one-time increased shedding but you're already dealing with that chronically so I doubt you'd even notice! Just make sure to do a patch test (if you don't already use oil) in case it breaks your skin out. Soaking my hair in oil really helped when I combed out my dreadlocks and a couple years ago when I got a hair tie stuck in my hair.

[0xalis]

I'm so sorry that happened to you, that's nightmarish... I hope karma bites that landlord hard.
Have you tried using olive oil or anything along those lines? I used vegetable oil to get a mouse out of a sticky trap so I know oil works well on a lot of sticky stuff.

If it really comes down to it, your health should take top priority. If you have to start your journey from scratch we are all here to support you the whole way. Hair always grows back, though it does take time, but it can't grow back if you pass away from health complications

[KittyKmew]

Thank you, I haven't tried olive oil yet, I've tried lots of deep moisture conditioner which did help to get the ends out, it's just trying to get to middle part that's been tricky. I think I'll try the olive oil next. Yes I have been thinking perhaps I will need to cut it off, it really won't suit me but I think I would get used to it. At least that way it has a chance to start over fresh and healthy

[Laurab]

Thank you, I haven't tried olive oil yet, I've tried lots of deep moisture conditioner which did help to get the ends out, it's just trying to get to middle part that's been tricky. I think I'll try the olive oil next. Yes I have been thinking perhaps I will need to cut it off, it really won't suit me but I think I would get used to it. At least that way it has a chance to start over fresh and healthy

I bet it would look better than you'd think! you're just accostomed to longer hair. Plus it'll start growing long before you even know it, and if you REALLY hate it there's always wigs and extensions.
But seriously, I don't think I've met a girl who couldn't pull off short hair.
Like, men all have short hair and no one tells them it doesn't "suit them" it's just expected of them. But girls are expected to have the perfect face shape for each haircut they get? Nah.
I have no idea what you look like, but I'm certain you're beautiful, and hair length isn't going to change that.
My heart honestly breaks for you, the fact that someone put you through that to save a few bucks on repairs is disgusting.
But you're out at least, and I'm really glad you can start to move on from this.

[jane_marie]

I'm really sorry to hear abut what's happened to you. If you can you should check in with a doctor to have your lungs checked out. Living in that moldy of an environment can be seriously hazardous to your health.

As for your hair, I know that there are a variety of products used to help people brush out dreadlocks. Is there anyway that any of those might help?

Good luck figuring things out. If you do have to cut I'm sure it will be lovely to start fresh.

Welcome to LHC.

[KittyKmew]

I bet it would look better than you'd think! you're just accostomed to longer hair. Plus it'll start growing long before you even know it, and if you REALLY hate it there's always wigs and extensions.
But seriously, I don't think I've met a girl who couldn't pull off short hair.
Like, men all have short hair and no one tells them it doesn't "suit them" it's just expected of them. But girls are expected to have the perfect face shape for each haircut they get? Nah.
I have no idea what you look like, but I'm certain you're beautiful, and hair length isn't going to change that.
My heart honestly breaks for you, the fact that someone put you through that to save a few bucks on repairs is disgusting.
But you're out at least, and I'm really glad you can start to move on from this.

Aww, thank you for your kind words, that made me tear up! It made me feel a bit more confident - I do have a wig, it's even longer than my original hair and I like it a lot, so I'll be wearing that if I feel the need to