Natural: I'm Mad as He!! and I ain't going back to the NAPP 24/7

[TrustMeLove]

I recently had my hair pressed. Great press love the different style. However, now that my hair is pressed I can see my ends even better. OOHHH MY GOODNESS! WTH!

I have so many single strand knots all over the place. Like 50% of my strands have knots. I trim at least 1-2 months, condition my hair once a week, and have found the RIGHT products to detangle my hair and do it with care. It's been 3 years of this stuff and I didn't expect to straighten my hair and find all these knots.

Do I want pure nappy hair w/ knots and split ends or slightly nappy hair w/o knots or limited knots and split ends?

I am moving towards to limited knots slightly nappy hair.

Just not worth it. These knots have me P.O!

Have any of you gone through this? What decision did you make or would make?

 

[abordeaux]

Girl, these single strand knots have me .

I feel your pain. The longer my hair gets, the worse they get. I detangle at least 3 times a week and my hair STAYS moiturized. I don't get it.

 

[TrustMeLove]

i am sad you are going through this too. Honestly. This is a MESS! I'm going to start pressing my hair once a month. I sadly feel like I have to move more into the pressed isle. I wanted thick nappy hair, but not nappy hair FULL OF KNOTS AND SPLIT ENDS. Thats not what I had in mind at the start of this general.

Ill just be a heat protectant fool. Maybe 1 press every 6 weeks.

 

[Southernbella.]

I straighten every 4 weeks or so. I think heat helps my hair. I say go for it!

 

[Auburn]

What do you ladies do about the single strand knots?
I abused my hair and combed them out with a comb with small teeth.
It hurt but it helped some.

 

[TCatt86]

I'm starting to get them now. I just trim them off. I'm about to start straightening my hair about once every 8 weeks, kind of like how I would relax it.

 

[caramelcutieinva]

I get my hair flat ironed once a month and I only get knots when I do a week with lots of coil outs or twists outs.

 

[ajoyfuljoy]

I straighten every 4 weeks or so. I think heat helps my hair. I say go for it!

Lauren,

How hot do you get your flat iron?

 

[MissJ]

I'm thinking of blowdrying my hair after washing to cut down not knots and tangles. I agree, it's not worth it.

 

[Lynnerie]

So this is what I have to look forward to.

 

[Auburn]

So this is what I have to look forward to.

I dont think we ALL have that problem.

 

[ImFree27]

yup i straightend my hair 2 weeks ago and its so annoying im combing my hair and im like what is that, y does my hair feel like that, it is annyoing..and my knots r on the middle of my strand and i really dont want to trim it. if it was on the end then i would, is there a way to get rid of it without trimming it..

 

[KizzieNapps]

This is a good thread.....scary but good. I was planning on going w/o heat for 6 mos since I just BC'd. Is this a bad idea?

 

[NikStarrr]

Question. Other than seeing them when closely examining your strands, how else do you ladies know that the single strand knots are there? Are they causing your hair to break? Do you feel them? Because if it's single strand then the actual knot can't be bigger than the period at the end of this sentence. haha I'm asking because I haven't noticed any yet with my own eyes, but am wondering if there are other ways to tell.

 

[ImFree27]

you can feel it, if ur hair is straight and u run ur fingers through it, u def. feel it, but its hard to see. unless u examine every strand.

 

[TrustMeLove]

I can feel mine when my hair is nappy and even now when it is straight. It is major. Because it is like a split end. I have knots that right about the knot the hair is splitting. Plus the knot bends your hair in a funky direction. Like your hair could be straight or curving right and than you get to the knot and everything below the know is going left or in some off shoot direction.

 

[Southernbella.]

Lauren,

How hot do you get your flat iron?

My iron is a Sally's bootleg, so my temps have been rubbed off for quite some time.If I had to guess, and 450 was the highest, I'd say around 400 degrees (with LOTS of heat protectant).

What REALLY makes the difference for me is chasing the a fine-tooth comb with the flat iron. Now I see why good old-fashioned presses are the best. Something about the comb and the way it lets the heat get through really gets my hair straight and prevents reversion.

 

[Southernbella.]

So this is what I have to look forward to.

Not everyone has them. I don't have them...I didn't even have them when I wasn't straightening regularly.

 

[Forever in Bloom]

I get my hair flat ironed once a month and I only get knots when I do a week with lots of coil outs or twists outs.

The strands seem to get worse when I do 2 strand twists, and take them for a ride as twist outs a week later.

What do you ladies do about the single strand knots? I abused my hair and combed them out with a comb with small teeth. It hurt but it helped some.

I know many may not agree with me, but my Denman is like a friggin' heat-seeking missile. I ran that sucker through my wet hair several times last week until it stopped pulling hair out. I went through every single hair (yes I did), and every one that came out was a split end or one with a knot. I blow-dried most of hair, then proceeded to flat iron. It turned out better than I expected

I straighten every 4 weeks or so. I think heat helps my hair. I say go for it!

I discovered this just last week and I have to agree with you. My hair behaved so much better with a lil heat in the mix. I'm no longer anti-heat, only anti-chemical.

Question. Other than seeing them when closely examining your strands, how else do you ladies know that the single strand knots are there? Are they causing your hair to break? Do you feel them? Because if it's single strand then the actual knot can't be bigger than the period at the end of this sentence. haha I'm asking because I haven't noticed any yet with my own eyes, but am wondering if there are other ways to tell.

I can feel my split ends and single strand knots. It sounds weird, but you can definitely tell. The strand feels ragged and hard with either one. If I don't cut the single strand knots, they in turn create mid-strand splits.

 

[Southernbella.]

This is a good thread.....scary but good. I was planning on going w/o heat for 6 mos since I just BC'd. Is this a bad idea?

Not at all. I didn't straighten when I first BCed. I don't remember when I started straightening, but my hair did fine before. The biggest difference I see now is that my ends look great when my hair is in its nappy state.

 

[Southernbella.]

I can feel my split ends and single strand knots. It sounds weird, but you can definitely tell. The strand feels ragged and hard with either one. If I don't cut the single strand knots, they in turn create mid-strand splits.

Ok, I did have a some of those. I didn't realize what it was!I thought they were shed hairs wrapped around the other hairs. I just pull them out. Is that bad?

 

[locabouthair]

Knots come with being natural. When I was natural, it didnt even bother me. I got used to it. Somehow the hair in it natural state, well my hair 4z, would knot around itself. I dont think its due to damage or bad care, it is what it is.

 

[BeautifulFlower]

Im relaxed and I get them. Not alot but I get them. I think heat helps alot. I co-sign with Lauren.

 

[Millahdoowop]

I have seen a few. I thought it was part of having nappy hair. Maybe not. Most times I cowash and throw my hair back in a bun or a puff. I don't examine my hair or anything. Maybe I should...

 

[Ms Lala]

I had to stop wearing shrunken hair styles and like wash n go's and shrunken fros this has really helped. Washing my hair in braids has also helped reduce knots.

 

[zzirvingj]

I straighten every 4 weeks or so. I think heat helps my hair. I say go for it!

OT: LOVE YOUR HAIR IN YOUR SIGGY PIC!!!

 

[anon123]

Knots come with being natural. When I was natural, it didnt even bother me. I got used to it. Somehow the hair in it natural state, well my hair 4z, would knot around itself. I dont think its due to damage or bad care, it is what it is.

This is what I was going to say. It's not that you are doing anything wrong, I don't think. It's perfectly normal for some natural hair types to do this. If you want to wear your hair straight some times then it might be a problem because they don't look so good straight. At least from what I could tell, my ssks don't cause splits in any way. I have so few splits that I see one on average once every 2-3 months, but I have tons of single strand knots. If there are a lot of them, though, and you wear out styles a lot, I think they do contribute to larger more complex knots, though.

 

[hopeful]

So this is what I have to look forward to.

Not everyone gets them. I was natural almost 2 1/2 years and I rarely got them.

 

[malachi74]

I'm thinking of blowdrying my hair after washing to cut down not knots and tangles. I agree, it's not worth it.

that's what i do, i still get some knots,but not as many as when i let my hair airdry

 

[malachi74]

Ok, I did have a some of those. I didn't realize what it was!I thought they were shed hairs wrapped around the other hairs. I just pull them out. Is that bad?

you can't just pull it off! That will leave your end ragged. Take the scissors and trim right above the damage.