single strand knots

So for about the past week I have been noticing my hair doing something weird like on different parts of the day... like while touching my hair some strands seemed too long... upon touching it, it came out only to be tied around another strand of hair connected by this know. =(

Has anyone else ever had this problem? if so do you know ways to prevent it, and further more why is it even happening?

*knot

I don't think it's preventable all together, but you can reduce the occurrence of single strand knots by thoroughly moisturizing and sealing you hair so your strands are less likely to twirl up around themselves and form them. I get them too. They suck.

I had this problem big time when I went natural the first time. The only reason I don't have it now is because my hair isn't long enough. To rid ssk's (single strand knots) the only remedy is cutting with hair shears. To reduce occurence &prevent them, protective styling &proper moisture are the only way. Detangling in sections then twisting the section while in the shower help keep hair from curling back onto itself and forming knots. You should try seek &destroy sessions before you detangle to keep any current ssk's from latching on to other helpless strands and creating bigger knots. Avoid any friction to your hair; that is combs with seams, fine toothed combs, collars of shirts, cotton or abrasive fabrics on pillow cases, head rests, basically anything your hair comes into contact with. Its sounds kinda nazi-ish but when you care about your the health of your hair, going overboard is better than neglect (in my opinion). HTH!

As my hair gets longer I'm noticing more SSKs, I use a fine tooth comb during the conditioning process to combat some of them (I don't get them all). I just deal with it; they aren't noticeable at all (only to me). Wrapping my hair in satin scarves at night helps combat SSKs. I also sleep wearing two strand twists, this really helps.

Thank you guys sooo much...

I thought I was the only one with this problem =\ ...

I will take your advice and let you know ...if I have stopped them =D from occurring as much.

soo this has nothing to do with your thread persay but i noticed you and I are almost very similar to the date we big chopped like a 2 week difference!! LOL.. random!

@jadore04
Lol... how are you loving your natural state...
I’M LOVING MINE!

I get those lil suckas when I wear wash and gos often, this is the culpit for me. Now when I do twists, I don't have the issue with them.

I noticed I started getting them often as well. Do you think its teh result of wash and go's?

To elaborate on my earlier post. My hair is currently cut in a mohawk as indicated in my pic, however it's been growing out and since I live in NYC (where the winter is brutal) I have been rocking twist outs to maintain moisture despite REALLY missing my wash and go's. However, in the past month I noticed a lot more single strand knots. What's weird is when I initially went natural and my hair grew out I didn't get them, no since my hair is growing back in, I;m getting them in the most dense and tighter curled areas of my hair. I realize that the tighter the curl, the more likely I'll get a knot. But I'm wondering, is it due to wash and go's only. Also, is the only option regarding them is to cut it, because if that is the case, how can you retain length. I've seen so many women here and on YT only do wash and go's and there hair grows. (writing this in a hurry at work-sorry if there are any grammatical errors)

wash and gos are the cause of my ssks. leaving my hair to dry and fully shrink up causes my to get ssks. i have to air dry in twisted, braids,etc...to keep my hair stretch instead air drying on loose hair that will shrink.letting my hair fully strink when wet is a no no. air drying in twist and never loose hair has help me a lot, now i barely get them

@naptowncurls... your curls are pretty

@Nappilybeautiful

i think [naturally yours] answered my question as well as yours =D

thanks

Wearing my hair in an "out" style more than one day at a time leads to ssks and assorted other tangles for me. Learned the hard way.

I don't know what causes these buggers. Because I wear my hair in protective styles 99% of the time. I wear mostly braids and I still get them ALOT. I think they happen when I wash my hair, its the only thing that makes any sense to me. I wash in sections, twist the section etc as has been recommended and I STILL get them. It's so annoying (sorry to rant) but I trimmed my hair twice in the past three weeks only to have them re-appear
So I'm not sure how to deal with the issue either, cause I have to wash my hair. I'll be paying attention to the thread for more suggestions

Kinksncurls, are you still maintaining length?

I get ssks a lot too whether I wng, twist or twist out. I just try to snip that hair when I see it instead of doing a trim all over that way I don't loose too much length. I hear that keeping the ends moisturized and stretched helps.

I wear my hair in protective styles 99% of the time. I wear mostly braids and I still get them ALOT. I think they happen when I wash my hair, its the only thing that makes any sense to me. I wash in sections, twist the section etc as has been recommended and I STILL get them

Hi kinksncurls ,
When & how are you removing your shed hairs? What products do you use?

Since it's getting really cold here in MD I no longer do WNGs- Keeping my hair in two strand twist really combats SSKs. Some moisturizers help combat SSks too, since I've started using Luster's No Drip Curl Activator I don't get them. Maybe using another oil or moisturizer will help.

NappilyBeautiful wrote:Kinksncurls, are you still maintaining length?

Not since I started trying to trim my hair to get them out. I'm back at the length I started the summer with so I've now put myself on a 6 month no trim challenge (unless I see splits). I don't have the patience to sit and trim each individual knot I find out of my hair but I guess I'll have to give this a try so that I can maintain some length

FalconTress wrote:I wear my hair in protective styles 99% of the time. I wear mostly braids and I still get them ALOT. I think they happen when I wash my hair, its the only thing that makes any sense to me. I wash in sections, twist the section etc as has been recommended and I STILL get them

Hi kinksncurls ,
When & how are you removing your shed hairs? What products do you use?

I detangle with my fingers and a wide tooth comb before I wash and condition and then I detangle with my leave-in (I've been using shea moisture hair milk) which has a lot of slip when I'm done. My hair is super dense and thick, so in order to get the shed hairs out I have to use a smaller comb on smaller sections because a wide tooth comb doesn't cut it. Does that make sense?

How do you remove shed hairs? and what products do you use?

My 4c coils get SSK's when I don't follow the guidelines.

Here's why;

1. First off, It's 4c y'all. It comes with the territory'

2. I have hand in fro disease,

3. Loosening up my twist-outs (see no.2).

I don't WNG anymore, BUT if I had no other alternative, I'd make sure it was well sealed with oil to provide slip.

I think the twist-out serves as a protective style, as long as it doesn't get loosened up (frizzed).

When I start getting frizzy, I wash (co-wash) it and start again.

As long as my hair is coiled in clumps (safety in numbers), I notice fewer SSK than when I used to WNG.

HTH

Hi Folks, So since my last post I have been doing two strand twist outs and clipped my hair a couple of times and STILL have SSK! I give up. I might as well stick to wash and go's and trim/dust my hair once a month.

I get them too regardless of protective styling I think they are just a part of having curly and in my case (tightly coiled) hair

I used to get those knots alot until I stopped playing and pulling my hair! keeping the ends moisturized helps too !