SSKs the debil??

**natural*nichelle** · 10-02-2013, 08:46 PM

Hi all!
So, I was wondering if single strand knots prevent length retention/stall hair growth? Should I be cutting them off as I find them? Because I have tons. What causes them? Any suggestion on ways to avoid getting them? Sorry in advance. I know I have lots of questions, just getting a bit frustrated because they make my hair feel awful towards the ends, smh.

thanks for any help!

**Sohful1** · 10-04-2013, 02:13 PM

When I was a loose natural I also had SSK's. Hence the reason I loced my hair...lol. I wish I could offer advice but I did all I could and it kept happening. But I never cut them I just let them be.

**natural*nichelle** · 10-04-2013, 04:17 PM

Thanks for your reply! Did they seem to slow/stop your growth? Or were they just annoying to you as they are to me? Lol

**GalaxyGirl2012** · 10-05-2013, 02:32 AM

SSKs are the debil. i plan on staying loose. what seems to help me is to make sure i never ever let my hair dry loose. i seem to get the most SSK and tangles in general when i do that. when i had a TWA i get do it no problem, now i make sure to have my hair in large braids (braided to the ends) after my wash routine. no more WNGs for me.

also since it takes my hair around 10-12hours to completely dry, i finally went and got a mechanical apparatus to help with that. otherwise my wash days were petty much taking up an entire day considering all the steps AND the dry time

**natural*nichelle** · 10-05-2013, 01:25 PM

Originally Posted by GalaxyGirl2012

SSKs are the debil. i plan on staying loose. what seems to help me is to make sure i never ever let my hair dry loose. i seem to get the most SSK and tangles in general when i do that. when i had a TWA i get do it no problem, now i make sure to have my hair in large braids (braided to the ends) after my wash routine. no more WNGs for me.

also since it takes my hair around 10-12hours to completely dry, i finally went and got a mechanical apparatus to help with that. otherwise my wash days were petty much taking up an entire day considering all the steps AND the dry time

OMG my hair takes about that long to dry as well! Smh lol. Do you cut your SSKs or just let them be?

**GalaxyGirl2012** · 10-06-2013, 08:18 AM

Originally Posted by natural*nichelle

OMG my hair takes about that long to dry as well! Smh lol. Do you cut your SSKs or just let them be?

depends. some amount of SSK are inevitable with my natural hair type since there is absolutely no way to completely keep my hair totaly stretched without a lot of heat and chemicals. a few here and there i dont worry about, but if there's a lot then it's a good sign that it's a time for a trim

**LBellatrix** · 10-06-2013, 07:59 PM

Since growth happens from the inside, SSKs can't "stall" it. Depending on how you handle your hair, they can cause breakage, which is what prevents length from accumulating.

I have long accepted SSKs as the price of having longer coily (mostly-4b) hair. Some people do search-and-destroys in which they hunt for and snip each one. I have neither the time nor the patience. If I find one, I'll usually pinch it off with my fingers (I don't recommend doing this). Otherwise, I leave them alone and they usually leave me alone...and my hair's still longer than it's ever been.

**Sohful1** · 10-07-2013, 01:17 PM

I never cut mine and they didn't affect my hair growth.

**apb1172** · 10-09-2013, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by LBellatrix

Since growth happens from the inside, SSKs can't "stall" it. Depending on how you handle your hair, they can cause breakage, which is what prevents length from accumulating.

I have long accepted SSKs as the price of having longer coily (mostly-4b) hair. Some people do search-and-destroys in which they hunt for and snip each one. I have neither the time nor the patience. If I find one, I'll usually pinch it off with my fingers (I don't recommend doing this). Otherwise, I leave them alone and they usually leave me alone...and my hair's still longer than it's ever been.

I was gonna say the exact same thing. SSK's are like shrinkage with our hair. They just happen. If we want to wear our natural hair the way it grows out of our head, then there are some inevitabilities that we are just going to have to accept. LOL

I hardly ever even worry about mine because I rarely if ever wear my hair straight. But I will say that the only way I can see SSK's stalling your growth is if you are constantly in your hair with scissors trying to get rid of them. You eventually will stop seeing growth because you will be cutting it all off.

**CCmomof5** · 10-09-2013, 05:04 PM

Originally Posted by GalaxyGirl2012

SSKs are the debil. i plan on staying loose. what seems to help me is to make sure i never ever let my hair dry loose. i seem to get the most SSK and tangles in general when i do that. when i had a TWA i get do it no problem, now i make sure to have my hair in large braids (braided to the ends) after my wash routine. no more WNGs for me.

also since it takes my hair around 10-12hours to completely dry, i finally went and got a mechanical apparatus to help with that. otherwise my wash days were petty much taking up an entire day considering all the steps AND the dry time

I can relate with the all-day drying thing. I'm considering incorporating a dryer of sorts into my routine occasionally, because if I bun my hair wet, or make my sections too big, the middle takes FOREVER to dry completely - sometimes days.

Originally Posted by LBellatrix

Since growth happens from the inside, SSKs can't "stall" it. Depending on how you handle your hair, they can cause breakage, which is what prevents length from accumulating.

I have long accepted SSKs as the price of having longer coily (mostly-4b) hair. Some people do search-and-destroys in which they hunt for and snip each one. I have neither the time nor the patience. If I find one, I'll usually pinch it off with my fingers (I don't recommend doing this). Otherwise, I leave them alone and they usually leave me alone...and my hair's still longer than it's ever been.

I agree with all of LBell's post above - including the part about pinching SSKs off with fingers. I do that all of the time, even though I know that I shouldn't. Outside of that practice, I don't bother much with them. If I notice more than usual, I MAY snip off those ends, but I don't do this on a regular basis.