How to loosen tight braid

+82 votes
asked Nov 22, 2018 in Beauty & Style by CristinaL36 (230 points)
edited Aug 8, 2019
Hello people, I need your help urgently!

I visited an African woman's braiding shop recently and had my hair braided. I didn't feel the braid was a bit too tight as at that time as I felt very little or no pain. I gladly left for home with my new hairdo.

Now the problem is the braid feels so tight and painful and I need to get it loosened a bit. I do not want to remove the braids entirely since my natural hair only started coming up newly. Could anyone please tell me how to loosen tight braids? Any tip would be very much appreciated. Thanks for your time!

2 Answers

+23 votes
answered Mar 31, 2019 by GonzaloCushi (340 points)
edited May 20, 2019

Hey, sorry about the pain you have to go through! I have been through the same process and I have survived. Haha! So don’t worry! Also got some useful info online so you may learn from it. Don’t worry, you will be fine!

1. Taking showers

One easy way of loosening braids is to take a hot shower and apply some conditioners with the braids intact. Avoid messaging the hair vigorously; use a strong moisturizing conditioner instead and smooth it carefully onto your hair. After your shower, clean the hair dry using a thick towel and allow it to dry naturally.

2. Moist heat

Another very effective way on how to loosen tight braids, is the use of moist heat. This is most applicable to tiny braids that are tightly braided near the scalp. To get these braids loosened, get a warm moist towel placed on your head and cover it with your hair cap. Do not remove the towel until after an hour to make sure the warm air reduces the tightness of the braids. Apply steam directly to your head using a manual steamer, or by standing inside a closed bathroom with running hot water, this can also loosen tight braids.

3. Leave-in conditioners

Tight braids can also be loosened and softened with a leave-in conditioner. This works for both large and tiny braids. Make sure you do not use a lot of conditioner, however, keep it tightly rubbed into the very tight portions using your finger tips to get the best results.

4. Loosening cornrows

Cornrows are small braids braided close to the scalp. When braided too tightly, cornrows cause a significant level of discomfort and this irritates the scalp a great deal due to exposure.

5. Braid spray

There are some braid sprays specifically designed to treat cases of itching that result from braided hairs. There are also sprays that aid the removal of the braids. These two types of sprays help keep the hair soft and the braid loose. They also make the braids neat and comfortable. These braids are specifically designed to take care of the scalp, which gets very irritated by the cornrows. Certain products like the Murray's Spray unlock are specifically designed to get the hair prepared for the removal of braids, keeping hair strong, healthy and well-conditioned. This spray is however effective for treating the hair thereby loosening the braids. There are several other products designed to help keep the hair conditioned when braided. Some of these products include: Better Braids Medicated Spray and Parnevu's T-Tree Medicated Braid Spray.

6. Scalp massage

The pains that come with the tight uncomfortable cornrows can be relieved by a very gentle scalp massage. Rub the areas where the hair attaches with the braid very gently. Rubbing gently helps pull the hair from the scalp and in the process loosen the hair. Be careful with this in order not to get your cornrows messed up. Pay attention to the scalps exposed between the rows of braids.

7. Pencil

Get an object with a smooth and cylindrical shape like a biro or pencil, then get them into each of the braids to get them loosened. The size of object to be used is determined by the size of the braids. The pain will only get worse if you use large objects for small braids or vice versa.

Hope this helps.

+1 vote
answered Mar 17, 2019 by BobbyKeegan7 (200 points)
edited Jul 18, 2019

Wow! I know that feeling. I once had that same experience some couple of years back. My face reddened before I left the braiders shop that day and I felt feverish when I got home. The braids were all out, and I made no effort to remove them. Make sure the braids are always facing the direction she braided them originally. Styling them will only increase the tension. They ought to get loosened up in the next few days. Try to pamper the edges by ensuring they are not pulled up into some kind of pony tail. I went online to see if I could get any good advice, and here is what I could come up with on how to loosen tight braid. The video below can teach you exactly how to go about it:

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