Has anybody been able get mats out of severe matted hair?

[LucyLoo1972]

I have never ever not cared for my hair as I used to have lovely hair but being bed bound with depression has left me iwth insanely bad knots and mats and im worried I will have to get my hair cut really short which I have never had and would hate to have to do.

has anybody been able to get severe mats out?

I've never done this, but I would try slathering it in loads of conditioner and work from the ends upwards, very gently.

There are tonnes of videos online of hairdressers doing exactly that for clients who have been depressed/bedbound. I'm always amazed by what they can achieve although it does take a long time. I don't know how achievable it would be to tackle yourself, probably depends how long it's been. I've ended up with very bad tangles myself after bouts of illness and found coating in the shower with conditioner to he best - then gradually tease out a few hairs at a time with my fingers (this seems to work better than brushing). But if you're beyond that sort of thing I'd say you need professional help. Maybe look up videos and see kind of level.youd be at, then ring around until you find someone who sounds good. Maybe someone who comes to your house would feel easiest?

Definitely lots of conditioner

Tangle teezer is your friend.

As someone who had dreadlocks and very matted hair, I'd avoid conditioner for now, because if your hair is so matted that you can't rinse it properly then it just becomes a sticky gunk gluing your mats together.

How long is your hair? I went from mid back length to chin length as after months of trying to detangle, I knew I couldn't.

Cutting upwards then brushing out worked wonders. It looked like I'd lost a lot of hair, but the majority must have just been old dead hair as once cut and styled my hair was still quite thick.

I just use clippers these days and shave it, but I'm guessing that's not what you are after.

Ps a fork is very good for breaking in to big matts... Just sort of stab it in to loosen it.

Good luck!

Yes! DH used to do it for me whenever my mental health was bad and we he had forgotten to plait it, I say we because he did that too most of the time. It used to get very bad and it would take hours to days to get them out. They did always come out and I never had to cut it.

He used a detangling spray for children (many, many bottles), a tail comb and a tangle teaser and would go from the bottom very slowly detangling every mini section. We’d watch something at the same time and chat.

I was prepared to do the same for my mum when she had a long illness and ended up with a badly matter hair chunk in the back but she just handed me scissors and I cut it sympathetically.

And once you have the matts out, have your hair trimmed as it will be in need of dry split ends being removed.
This will help stop further matting.

Lots of conditioner and time! Use your fingers rather than a comb/brush and less will fall out.
Good luck!

You can get them out unless they have gone like dreadlocks but it will take patience. Start at one side of your head and start at the ends of the hair and work upwards. When you hit a bad knot, gently pull a few hairs out of the knot at a time until there are no hairs left in the knot an then brush that section. Keep working round you head u ril you get to the other side.

Only with my long haired cat sadly.

Don’t laugh.
I sometimes need to do this on my long, silky haired show dogs that occasionally have matts from playing so have become quite a dab hand at dealing with this. The secret is to pull the hair out of the matt, not the matt out of the hair, or you will end up pulling hair out by the roots.
Use a good thick conditioner, the sort that comes in a tub not a tube, or better still a silk/ silicone one though these tend to be sold for animals but they are amazing ( like Cowboy Magic) You need to rub a good dollop into the matt, work it well in with your fingers, leave it for a while to soften & lubricate the matt then begin to gently pull it apart with your fingers. Once it begins to loosen rather than being a tight lump, see if you can tease out the hairs a few, or even one, at a time. If not you need to resort to scissors but don’t just chop the matt off, cut vertically through the matt from root to end, carefully, seeing after each cut if you can pull it apart into sections, you can THEN use a brush to gently try to tease it apart. It always works but does take time.

Child's farm detangling spray is really good.

Also a hair mask which you can put on and left on Garnier hair food is good.

Both can be bought from amazon and are not overly expensive.

A tangle teaser brush as well.

I used to not brush my hair as a teenager as it gave me volume that I needed for my messy buns lol. But yes, this left me with really matted hair (and I have super long hair). I managed to get them all out - just with lotsssss of brushing (working through with a comb too just starting at the ends then working through). It will take a lot of time and patience but you'll get there. I'd super recommend hair masks too (to give your hair a good deep condition and this will make it easier to tackle the knots). Also hair oil! And the Aussie Miracle Moist spray (I love this stuff for helping to detangle my long hair even now).

I have to do similar for my long-haired cat if she gets armpit dreadlocks. It's a similar process to unknotting a necklace - rub the knot and loosen it rather than tug and hope!

Sorry to hear you have been unwell OP. Here's what I would do.
Wet your hair then gently work a lot of conditioner into the hair. Use your fingertips and do your best to cover as much as the mats as possible, and gently work it in with your fingertips, dont rub or try and drag your fingers through.
You dont need a super expensive conditioner but you are looking for any 'mask' ones or deep conditioning ones as they have a better texture for hair to untangle - you will need lots so dont need to spend a fortune.
Let it sit for at least 15 minutes.
Then work your way up the hair, inch by inch detailing with either your fingers or a wide tooth comb. No brushes, no regular combs.
The biggest mistake people make is rushing is, or starting too high up the hair when they detangle. You want to work your way up gradually, inch by inch. Do not be tempted to go 2-3 inches in and start untangling. Think of how fabric frays at the edges then climbs its way up the fabric.
You could absolutely do this a section at a time if you are short on time or just want to see how you get on at first, as it can be very overwhelming so dont worry if you need to work your way round your head over a few sessions!
You could absolutely try with detangle spray too, but id probably try the conditioner trick first.
If your hair has dreadlocks, this may be trickier and need a professional.

Yes when I was in a psychiatric unit. I used a curl conditioner from VO5. Be gentle with your hair. Nuns was long blonde and highlighted.

My son won't let us wash his hair and it gets very matted. I bought tangle teezer detangling spray from Amazon and it's been amazing, actually gets the mats out, especially if you use it every day and just try for a slight improvement each day, rather than getting the knots out all at once. It smells lovely too, and it's cheap. The best brush we've found is wet brush (lots on Amazon), it's better than a tangle teezer we find

Also agree with 'pull the hair out of the Matt, not the Matt out of the hair'

Could a hairdresser come to your house? They will cut if necessary but be able to detangle too.

My eldest has very long, thick, curly hair. To cut a very long story short he had a period of a few months where he was missing from home more often than not and not taking care of himself at all. One night when he had come back he asked me to sort out his hair.

It took 8 hours, four bottles of conditioner, three broken combs and more than one "owwww that hurts more than being stabbed" but we did get every last matted bit sorted, every tangle out. I don't think I could have done it to my own head tbh but if I had to try I would start at the ends, work in tiny sections, drown my head in conditioner over and over and accept that the very very worst clumps would need to be cut out.

Again with a pet comment but I’ve got a long haired animal who gets matting and I sit quietly and carefully pulling the hairs from the matting, then sometimes I need to cut a bit out. A long pronged fork can be helpful.

Argan oil is worth a try. I get this all the time, I had just resigned myself to long painful detangling sessions after washing it. One day I went to a hairdresser and braced myself when she got the comb out - but it just slipped through! I asked her what she'd used, and that's what she said.

I do this now and then as I have autistic children who sometimes can't face a hairbrush and it mats very quickly, especially in my curly haired child. It is possible, it will be slow, and I think it's easier for someone else to do it for you than it is to do it yourself, so if you have a friend or a partner, that might make it easier for you.

I wet the hair, coat it in a thick layer of conditioner, and then work from the bottom up. I sometimes use a tangle teaser brush, but they also make a curly hair detangling comb which I think is better for mats. It takes a long time either way. Sometimes I just use my fingers to tease out hair in the worst bits, and sometimes leaving the conditioner to do its work for a while can ease things up too. As can rinsing, and applying more conditioner, and going again.

I second the poster who says that silicon based conditioner is particularly good for this - it really is.

Good luck - you will feel loads better once it's out.

My hair gets matted overnight. I agree that you need to remove the hair from the mat, but even 20 minutes means my arms ache. A hairdresser is going to be your best bet.

what a lovely husabnd you. have! I dont tihnk mine would do that for me somehow - he doesnt help me a lot now im unwell becasue thign have been so utterly horrible for him

I cant believe I let it get to this

I know I wont even feel better becasue the problems ive created in life cant be solved

So sorry you are having such a bad time @LucyLoo1972 please take care of yourself and take each day one at a time x