are they doing it right?

i've been letting my hair dread up for about 7 months now and i've got some serious locks forming. but since i let them form naturally, they are kinda weird. the bottom ones, like 6 of them, are nice and individually formed and i can follow them all the way up to the root. BUT then the top of my head has formed a bunch of dreads that all sort of clump together at the base. actually, there is lose hair at the root, then it all clumps together in one big matt of hair, and then dreads sprout from that matt. i regularly try to tear and separate them, but i can only manage so much (im even tempted to try and cut them apart with scissors) AND then between the top matted dreads, and the bottom nice dreads, there is nothing, just a big empty space (not scalp, but closely matted hair) which is covered by the top matt of dreads........this probably makes no sense. i wish i could show you pics but it be impossible to see in the pics as well.

anyways, i was wondering, is this ok? does this sound normal? is it gonna grow out into a big ugly dread on the top of my head? or is it gonna all work out in the end?
is there something i can do to fix things?

 

what is going on is called a congo and yes it will end up as one big lock on the top of you head. what you should do is after you wash your hair just pull the hair apart into whatever sections you would like. This is called ripping and it is pretty much the only way to get rid of and prevent congos.

 

damnit. well i've been doing just what you suggest and its pretty much impossible to rip most of them into sections. they are stuck

 

should i just try to comb it out and start over?

 

I find it very hard to believe that they won't eventually rip apart. you probably have some criss crossing of hairs between locks. just work on a few hairs at a time until you've got them all separated. it's not impossible.

 

thats horrible advice

 

eat a dick.

 

the easiest time to separate is when your hair is wet. if its as clumped up as i imagine itll probably be a little painful. if that's still too difficult use something to make your hair slippery like olive oil. try to check up on them and seperate them after ever few washes or as needed to keep it from congoing too much.

 

let it grow

 

I don't understand why people seem to have a problem with ripping, it's not that hard, just feel with your hands to guide them into locks.

I also knew someone who grew a beaver tail and then cut them into dreads afterwards, not really advising you to do this, just saying, there shouldn't be any need to cut, (unless you want to of course).

 

i have a problem with ripping these ones because they are so tightly locked together. it hurts my hands very badly, like getting a bad rope burn, as i pull them and try to rip them apart. i really need someone else to help me. i can't see up there, i can only feel and it is such a tangled mess, my hands don't know what's what.

 

You don't need to be able to see, just take two dreads that are joined, feel with your finger and thumb and take it strand by strand until you get to the root, voilà you have a separated dread.

 

wtf? you get rope burn from trying to rip your dreads apart?

 

they are tough motherfuckers

 

and perhaps because these top ones are so short (they shrunk up like crazy) i can't get good leverage and it hurts my hands so much.

but letting them grow more doesn't mean the dreads are gonna be longer, there's just gonna be more matting underneath them......maybe i should try to rip and separate from under....

anyways i just wish i had a person or two to help me with it as it is VERY overwhelming. its not just one spot that needs attention, it's my whole head that needs to be sectioned properly. i never sectioned them in the beginning, just let them naturally form, so theres a ton of criss crossing

 

FUCK YES i finally fixed them tonight. took 2 hours, a lot of sweat and pain but i managed to get them all ripped apart. i had to start some of the rips with a sharp knife, and i managed to work my fingers into other parts. it got a lot easier by the end. my hair feels SOOOOOO much better now

this is what i had to deal with:
dread mullet


and now:
success!

 

Well, congratulations.

I can't imagine rope burn on your hands, although it can hurt your scalp quite a bit, because a few individual hairs looped around ones in the middle of the other lock will REALLY hurt, because they can't spread out the load.

You often have to rip till you think you're done, and then go back.... (not to say rip often, the more often you rip the more your dreads will knit together on the surfaces, it's a self feeding problem)

But it's good you got em out.

I hope that's a picture of you or something, and not the neuro-soup bitch, on your wall. Cause it kinda looks like crystal ann cole.

 

yea, i know the are a few little spots that aren't completely done, and ill be going back later when i'm a less sore.
i vow to never wear my hair up so much any more.

and yea, thats an old collage of myself from highschool

 

Well, if you're not enjoying it then no
!!! Oh wait you mean dreads !!

 

It can be a pretty painful thing can't it.
But good you're happy with them now