Left my braids(weave) in too long, my hair has locked?

Question

It's very painful pulling on my hair to get the knots out. I've never left my hair in braids this long. I screwed up this time, huh? What can I do to my hair to help ease the process? My hair is so damaged now.. :/

Answer 1

I've always had the tendancy to leave my braids in longer than I should and it is always a pain. I'm always left with a big fro of unmanageable hair. The best thing that I've learned is to give myself a lot of time to cut off as much of the braid as possible and then carefully comb out your hair from the root to the tip. Trying to rush your way through the process causes even more damage to your hair as you pull through the hair causing a lot of breakage. Once you've got all of your braids out the best thing is to deep condition your hair. If you can put a plastic cap on your conditioned hair and then sit under the dryer for about 15
minutes and let the conditioner do its job. Then rinse it out. Try to avoid perming/relaxing or having your hair braided right away. It's best to give your hair a bit of a break even if it's just a week. It's also a good idea to either wrap your head at night with a scarf or put a satin pillow case on your pillow. Cotton pillow cases causes a chaffing of sorts to occur between your hair and the cotton. Try to shampoo no more than once every 5 days because this too strips the hair of moisture when done too frequently. I know that this applies to hair of my texture as an african-american. Other hair types usually get more oily when left unwashed for more than a couple of days - thus their need to wash more often. I've recently started using primrose oil on my hair. I put a nickle size of the oil in the palm of my hands and rub it through my wet hair after a shampoo. I comb it through and then blow-dry it. At night I put only a few drops of the oil in the palm of my hands and run it through my hair before wrapping it. My hair is a lot softer and feels silkier. Hope some of these tips work for you!
**I said to work from the root of your hair to the tip when combing it out. I just read someone else's post who correctly stated to start combing from the tip to the end - as she said the other way would cause more hair to break off and that's what you want to avoid : )

Answer 2

I do this alllllll the time. It's a beast but Don't worry..you don't have to cut out your hair. You just have to really take your time and be careful. Go to Sally's Beauty Supply or Target or similar and get yourself a cheap bottle of frizz-ease or some other frizz serum (it makes the hair really slippery so it's easier to detangle---you know, like putting Crisco under your finger when a ring gets stuck?) Then get something with a smooth, fine pointy tip (i like to use a knitting needle/ i'd use a bobby pin--but make sure it's coated, or maybe a pen in a pinch--but just look around and see what you have.) Then work the tangles out from the very bottom of the knot and work your way to the root. Make sure you DON'T START FROM THE ROOT or you'll break out too much hair. Then just get real comfy in front of a good movie and go to work ....slowly. On particularyly bad knots, i'll even just pull 2 or three hairs out from the knot at a time. It takes forever (i took about 8 hours to take out my braids the other day---which is about twice as long as it took to put them in....but the extra time was worth it to avoid breaking out too much of my hair.)

Answer 3

This has happened to me before.. Don't worry, the ideal thing to do is to go to a professional and have them take them out.. But If you arn't up for that..Cut where the braid ends, and let your hair soak for as long as you can, Then when your hair drys try coconut oil.. It will help loosen the braids

Answer 4

Did you wash it yet? Try to ease the knots out! When you take your braids out you have to be careful period because I have had the same problem before but I didn't leave it in that long.And if there is absolutely nothing that you can do go to a professional. GOOD LUCK

Answer 5

Get yourself into a bathtub and let your hair have a good soak for a while. Then, use lots of conditioner. I use a 2 in 1 shampoo/conditioner to get the massive amounts of gel and spray I use out of my hair and I still use a 2nd conditioner. Maybe it'll work for your knots.

Answer 6

Leave a detangling conditioner on your hair for a few hours. Use a small tooth comb and gently untangle your hair going from the scalp to the ends.

Answer 7

You should have a professional look at your hair before you make any regrettable decisions (like cutting your hair).

Answer 8

Thanks you guys for all the responses. Should not be a problem after all these great suggestions

Answer 9

I think that's correct