What if you had dread/locs and decided, like a lot of people, to do a

makeover and lost almost all hair while combing out locs?  It is safe to say that people change their minds all the time.  They love a style today and want another the next!

Many people who decide to comb out their dread/locs will do so for various reasons including health,

work, critter infestations, family/friend comments etc.  Whatever the reason, it is usually not a light decision.  Whether you want to admit it or not, your hair is an integral part of your personality and it takes some thought to decide on this drastic step.  Of course, there are those that got dreads/locs just to be able to take it out but that’s a story for another time.

The reasons you lost almost all hair while combing out locs are:

• Dreads/locs are made up of hair that is normally lost when new hair grows in. There are 100-150 hairs that fall each day during this process.  As the hair is not being combed out they are sealed over time and add volume.

• During the combout, although the person is gentle, hairs will get broken because they are entangled i.e. crossing each other.
• The method chosen for maintaining the dreads e.g. interlocking causes breakage along the hairline. 
• If you were not on a balanced diet.
• There was not a regular maintenance routine.

Within three months after combing out the dread/locs, the hair returns to its natural state.  It will feel thinner structurally but give yourself time to get used to the loss of volume. 

I often hear people moaning how their hair was thicker before the dreads.  This is not true. You have either not been eating properly during that time or failed to take care of the dread/locs properly.  The fallen hairs that stayed in strengthened them.  They are the only reason you have hair if you lost almost all hair while combing out locs.

 By Paula Barker, Silkie Locks Hair Design

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