Single Strand Knots

Images of my hair 

Trichonodosis  AKA -  One Strand Knots, Single Strand Knots, Fairy Knots and Pixie Knots - whatever you want to call them these little devils have become the bane of my life lately. Admittedly I haven't been the kindest to my hair. I haven't deep conditioned in over a month, neither have I moisturized, I have literally been co-washing, blot dry and go. Needless, to say my hair has made me pay for it,  I have what feels like millions of these little buggers in my hair.


Causes of Single Strand Knots
Hair that is tightly coiled is prone to single strand knots simply because of the way it grows. The follicle of ethnic hair is flat and curved this is why the hair grows out of our scalps coiled as the hair grows it is inevitable that the hair will loop and coil on to itself. As if this wasn't enough, there are other things that exacerbate the problem, using harsh shampoos, not moisturizing, constantly fussing with hair, using towels to dry hair, then of course the wash and go's but the biggest culprit is holding on to split ends.

Getting Rid of them 
The most important thing to remember is to NEVER ever pull at them to break them off, as this can cause damage to a perfectly healthy strand of hair from the root, furthermore incorrect cutting can lead to further split ends and damage to the hair shaft. The are various methods I found on the WWW:
1. Using a needle to undo the knot.
2. "Search and eliminate" this involves looking for the knots individually and snipping them one by one.
3. Giving you hair a good trim with hair shears, it is very important that you use proper hair shears to avoid damage to your hair
4. Leaving them alone

images of my hair

I chose to give my hair a good trim and boy did I need it. I do not have the patience for the other methods and leaving them was definitely not an option, for me.

Prevention 
Single Strand Knot are totally unavoidable, but you can minimize their effect with a few simple changes to your routine.The single most important thing you can do is to keep your hair moisturized, this will keep the cheeky buggers at bay, also incorporating the following into hair-care routine will help:

Stretch your ends - if you are wearing your hair loose make sure you put your hair into plaits or twists at night so that your ends do not twist and coil on themselves
Protective styling - wear more low manipulation or protective styles as this will give the hair less of a chance of getting coiled up
As your hair gets longer consider cleansing it in sections and concentrate shampoos on your scalp rather than on the ends

ALWAYS protect your hair at night with a satin bonnet or pillowcase to minimize friction on hair strands
TRIM and TRIM  those ends holding on to them does not do you any good at all
Deep condition your hair at least once a week to ensure the softening agents in the treatments and conditioners  penetrate and soften your hair
Include a hot oil treatment or an oil rinse into your routine, the oils are useful as they make your hair softer and easier to de-tangle


Remember single strand knots are a part of wearing your hair in its natural state, even if you doing everything "right" you will still get a few knots here and there. Dealing with their causes will help you with preventing as many of them as possible.

Do you ever get single strand knots?  How do you get rid of them?



XXX


Isabel