neglect dreadlocks nightmare NEED HELP!

So its been about year since i havent combed/brushed my hair but still wash it every 2-3 days. Now most of my "dreadlocks" have connected at the roots and have formed a large mass of matted hair with little dreadlocks coming out of it that all move together (if that makes any sense). Also, my hair hasnt grown in a long time and it seems like its getting shorter not to mention its really stiff and barely moves freely. I believe this was caused mainly by me not really paying attention to my hair over the past year and constantly wearing hats or pulling my hair back most of the days. I'm not quite sure what to do at this point if i should just let it go and see what happens or if i should remove them and maybe start over another time. I was thinking on using the dread zasta from dreadhead hq but idk if its gonna be able to remove the mass of knotted hair on my head. Any suggestions???

 

Try and rip the mass into dreads. I used to have the whole back section of my hair connected, it was ugh. But I ripped it all apart where I could and now they pretty much stay apart.

 

Congratulations you have one massive dread forming.

Neglect doesn't mean actually neglecting your head and not paying attention to what its doing. Twist and rip to separate them out. A lot of people experience shrinking before they get length.

 

i've really tried but its seriously matted, i've even tried using a razor blade to slice through a little so i could rip easier but that didnt work either

 

This is why I don't like the term neglect. It's overly simplistic and most of the information you can find on it isn't fully accurate. I dunno what to tell you. You left your hair alone and now you have one giant dread. I would either deal with it or just cut and start over. Keep with the natural method if that's what you want to do but SEPARATE them from each other EVERY TIME you wash. Or at least once a week. Just pull them apart from the tips to the roots so you don't get back here again.

 

yeah now i've learned the hard way, just if i start over i definitely want to keep somewhat of long hair

 

ouch, yeah that sucks. gotta rip throughout the first year to keep them they're own. last set of locks i used scissors and cut some of them free. it will have a weird scratchy texture at first but it usually evens out at some point. it you try cut your hair and keep some length... good luck brushing if you are having a rough time with a razor. i would try to keep those locks. i mean, a year is a long time.
peace n love

 

Uhm you can soak them in conditioner and oil and then comb them out. You could also comb/brush your roots in addition to heavily conditioning your hair when you was to keep the roots from joining into your dread and grow it out to get some length and then cut off the dread.

 

This happened to me after a month or so (particularly on the back of my head, where the dreads are super dreaded) I ended up cutting them apart, no harm done.

 

Pypes is right, just cut them apart with scissors. I know people always seem to go mental about not cutting apart with scissors, but I've done it many times when I've neglected to pull apart for too long. It never caused any problems at all. If you're worried about cutting in the wrong place because you can't see properly, then just get someone to do it for you who you trust. Just pull the locks apart where you want them and cut through till you get to the scalp.

When I do it, I get my fingers in at the scalp between the dreads to work out where the middle is, so you don't end up with one lock being a lot thinner at the root than the other, then cut through. Just go carefully and it'll be fine.

 

i've done that with the right side of my head which worked despite a lot of little hairs falling out here and there... gonna try my left side soon but that side's a lot thicker hope it goes well

 

happened to me because i wore a hat every day for work. no biggie, just rip when it gets painful

 

I've got a few thick spots forming but I dig the congo vibe just gonna keep the tips seperated and slowly get through the ends as it grows

 

I personally would make it a ripping project, because i tend to continually rip and shape to prevent this happening. And I personally would rip into like 10 chunks, but that's just me... i don't have the balls to consciously let congos that big happen, they seem like a lot of washing/etc trouble... but if it's done for you

 

wtf?

 

I don't think she meant twist and rip as in the way people start dreads, but rather twisting or ripping as their individual terms to get them apart, not together. Although I don't follow the twisting bit.

 

Don't soak them in oil and brush them out. Use scissors like others have said, it's much less painful than combing and will take you all of five minutes to do.

 

I didn't even realized I typed twist. I meant tear.

 

The worst part of that for me was I couldn't comfortably rest my head back on the couch to watch TV. That was when I knew something had to be done.

 

so is it normal when i cut through the hair to separate into separate dreads that a lot of little hairs are falling out?