Giant Tangle - Help!!!

[JamieLeigh]

All the search results I've weeded through tell how to PREVENT tangles in the long run, not how to get a large tangle out.

My friend is having a horrible time, she's got a huge knot in her hair. I would estimate her hair to be about hip-length and 2b/ii. She normally doesn't use conditioner, just sulfate-free shampoo.

Here is what she says: It's near the head on the top side..it is massive..I tried everything..gentle combing with wide tooth comb and coconut oil, needle to seperate..impossible to divide that knot into smaller pieces..now my scalp is hurting like hell after my friend tried for 2 hours and she pulled it too much. I'm out of my mind.

It's nothing sticky or foreign, just hair knotted up on itself. She's tried conditioner, using a wide toothed comb, and coming at it from the bottom, one hair at a time instead of from the top, pulling it apart.

I really don't know how to help her, as I've never had any major matting occur in my length. Any suggestions on how to get out a huge hair snag?

[IndigoAsh]

that totally sucks!!! I used to get mats a lot, it was so bad, they were so huge. It would take my husband and I over an hour to untangle it. What we did to speed up our endeavor and not rip my hair apart was to basically bathe it in oil and work it apart. It'll take some time and she might need an extra pair of gentle hands, but it can be undone. I know for me afterwords the hairs would be kind of frazzled looking so I'd just brush it out after we got the tangles/mats undone and I'd wear it in a bun or braid for a couple of days to kind of reshape the hairs.

[deviantkitten]

My only suggestion is to go out and buy some detangler
I would have said coconut oil or condish, but you said she tried that already. Did she ge her gair wet, then put condish on the knot? That may help? Maybe???

[rach]

vinegar rinse might help (close up the hair shaft) so the hair stands are less grippy and try after untangling the hair with finger combing under water.

well coned conditioners too maybe?

hope some of that might be of some use.
hopes she recovers from this . With that much hair thats quite a tangle.

[DragonLady]

She may be forced to cut the mat open to work on it.

I'd tell her to buy a kid's detangler spray, and let it soak in real good before trying to seperate the biggest part with fingers or maybe a hair stick. Then, slowly try to pull it apart into smaller sections that can be combed.

[chargersfan]

I used to get knots like that on the underside of my hair when it was longer. The only thing I could do was cut them out. I tried e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. It's one of the reasons I joined this board - to prevent them to begin with, so I can learn to grow my hair long w/out getting those kinds of knots.

[ravenreed]

I have cut more than one of those out of my hair over the years. I use a slippy conditioner to prevent just that problem.

[MandyBeth]

First - DO NOT put water on it. Water will just make it mat up more, it tightens the matting. What about straight oil or silicone serum? Slather it in, soak the mat really well and let it work into the knot a bit. My mom used olive oil, simply because we had it on hand, and it worked.

Second - If you can not pick it apart - take cuticle or hair cutting scissors and start from the bottom to trim a very few hairs (like 2) at a time to see if that loosens up the tangle. Obviously cuticle scissors are NOT good for hair due to risk of fraying the cut - but they have an itty bitty tiny point and are small enough to actually only cut a hair or two at the time. It should eventually loosen the knot once you cut the right hairs, but it may be a pretty significant chunk.

Third - when trying to loosen the matting - hold between the mat and the scalp, it'll help not pull on the scalp so hard. You can also try wiggling a comb behind it if it's too tight to get a hold on.

Fourth - With help (and it will take a long time!), take a sewing needle and under light, slowly pick out the top layer from the bottom edge.

Five - for professional help - if you can find anyone who puts in good cornrow braids, they may have some tricks towards getting tangles out, since I know if I braid my own hair into lots of braids, it's fussy to pick out.

ETA - VERY IMPORTANT PART....

Carefully section out the hair that is NOT tangled. Put that into a few braids, whatever doesn't pull on the scalp. Thus keeping it out of the way so that those strands do not want to join into the tangle.

Once it's braided so more hair will not join in - soak it in the conditioner or oil or product of choice. Put a soft band in a few inches lower so it doesn't pull, and braid the lower section - thus hopefully keeping it from pulling up more length into the knotting. Then take the braid out before untangling.

Now that it's soaked and the rest of the hair is out of the way - sit and let the oil/whatever soak into the mat and leave it alone. If a cool pack feels good, do so carefully - or if something slightly warm feels good - again, carefully. Try some NSAIDS to help with the scalp being irritated and inflammed from the pulling. And try to just not mess with it. The rest of the hair being out of the way won't get tangled, and the scalp will enjoy the break, and the oil will get more into the knot.

Mother tested method - worked on our evil knots growing up, tho' the longest of our hairs was probably BSL ish.

[JamieLeigh]

Thank you guys so much! She's extremely upset, says her hair is her life. I know some of us can understand that statement!! Lol. She is a not a member here, she just lurks. She says she can't ever think of anything good to say in these boards.

[ravenreed]

I so don't have the patience to do this! Which is probably why I just cut them out.

Plus I find that if my hair has been knotted up badly, it stays crimped and likes to grab onto other hairs and try to reknot... However my hair has 'personality,' and tends to be hard to deal with sometimes.

First - DO NOT put water on it. Water will just make it mat up more, it tightens the matting. What about straight oil or silicone serum? Slather it in, soak the mat really well and let it work into the knot a bit. My mom used olive oil, simply because we had it on hand, and it worked.

Etc ...snip