Concern
Detangling Without Losing Length
Tangling itself isn't the damage -- how the hair gets detangled usually is. Dry detangling, working against the direction of a knot, or starting at the root instead of the ends all turn a normal tangle into real breakage. A slower, section-based, product-assisted approach protects length that rushed detangling doesn't.
Full guide
How to Detangle Natural Hair Without Losing Length
Read itWhy dry, top-down detangling turns a tangle into breakage
Hair is at its most fragile when it's wet, but dry hair has its own problem: static builds up between strands, causing them to repel and then re-tangle with new neighbors as fast as old knots are worked out. Combing from the root down pushes tangles into a smaller, tighter knot lower in the strand instead of loosening it, which is why starting at the top tends to create more breakage than starting at the ends.
The order that actually protects length
Wet hair saturated with a slippery, rinse-out conditioner gives strands enough slip to separate without tearing. Working in small sections -- rather than attacking the whole head at once -- and always starting at the ends before slowly working up toward the root removes tangles without pulling on the root and adding tension the scalp doesn't need. Rushing any part of this sequence, more than any single tool or product, is where most detangling breakage actually happens.