For those who want to take the plunge and get dreads/locs, one of the questions

that locticians often get asked is “how damaged is my hair after removing dreadlocks?”  Some may ask why such a question but if you see some of the experiences posted by individuals online, you would be worried too!

Over the time that I have been making and maintaining dreadlocks, I can still count on my fingers

the number of people who cut their hair later.  Also, half of them either kept the hair or redid their hair within a two-year period if there was not a medical or genetic issue.  There are of course outliers, but the majority of people who choose to get this done are like investors, usually in it for the long term.

I can say that the few times people have reported damage to their hair from dreads/locs, these were

the most common reasons:

• Interlocking too regularly.
• Waiting months before doing maintenance.
• Eating junk food or food with little nutritional value to hair.
• Sleeping with the hair out and having it pulled from the roots.
• Washing the hair daily so they had scalp issues e.g. dandruff.
• Choosing to have larger or smaller dreads/locs than their hair could handle.

Therefore, if you are wondering “how damaged is my hair after removing dreadlocks”, you will find:

• Any damaged sustained was either from faulty work on the hair e.g. tight roots
• Lack of care when handling the hair e.g. tight ponytails, keeping them in exotic styles for prolonged periods of time.
• Failure to have maintenance done on them regularly so the hair thinned and broke.
• Wearing heavy dread/loc extensions for your hair density.
• Bad eating habits i.e. no vegetables in the diet.

After removing dread/locs, the hair always feels thinner.  This is because the dead hairs that fused with the normal hair offered support and density that would normally be removed through combing and brushing.  Dread/locs only have damage because of the lack of knowledge and not because this style of hair is bad. On the contrary, it is one of the hairstyles that almost guarantees longer hair.

By Paula Barker, Silkie Locks Hair Design

Books:  “Talking Hair”, “Filling My Head” & “Dreadlocks – A Hairstylist’s Manifest”.