Balancing mechanism

Hi Everyone

I would appreciate your thoughts on the following:

On another HB board, there has been a discussion about how often people wash (as in shampoo) their hair.
Most posters washed their hair more than once a week, with a few shampooing every day.

Also, on other HB & non-HB boards I have read that people get itchy scalps the day after shampooing and that causes them to think that the scalp is dirty and needs to be washed again.

Now, from what I understand about the way skin (scalp included) works, sebum (natural oil) is produced from a gland within the hair follicle in order to give a light, protective and conditioning coating to the surface of the skin.

If this coating is stripped off the skin, the sebaceous glands will work harder to try and compensate by producing more sebum to reinstate the protective layer of oil.
This would suggest that a balancing mechamism is in operation.

The itchy scalp may be the tightness of the oil-stripped skin &/or the sebaceous glands kicking into action. To shampoo again when you get this itch would surely exacerbate the imbalance.

The more you shampoo, the more you itch, the more you shampoo……???

Of course, people also condition to replace the lost sebum, but the molecular structure of chemically synthesized conditioners is vastly different to sebum (jojoba and some essential oils excepted). Hence the penetrative quality is just not the same. Does the scalp even recognize/accept conditioner as an adequate sebum substitute?

Also, the purpose of conditioners seems to me to be more hair-related than scalp-related. I could be wrong, of course.

So, we alter the balance of sebum on the scalp and then try and replace this coating on the scalp and hair with another substance.
Hmmmm. What is the long-term impact of all this on the scalp and hair?

Does all that shampooing action/friction wear away the hair cuticle faster?
Does the continual stripping of sebum and application of detergents/sulphates/etc, sensitize or negatively damage the ecology of the scalp?

Am I talking utter rubbish?

Please share your thoughts.

Thanks in advance.

Uzi

Hi Uzma,

I think you're on to something.

The more you shampoo, the more quickly those sebaceous glands pump out the sebum (and the more quickly your scalp gets oily), the more you shampoo...

Conversely, the less you shampoo, the more slowly your scalp gets oily.

I discovered this myself when I gradually went to once-per-week shampoo. Anymore, when I wash more frequently than that, it gets oily more quickly. So I have to "coax" it back to once a week.

Most people use conditioners only on the part of the strands that are at least 6 inches away from the roots (although at least one that I know of recommends its use on all the hair, including the scalp).

Anyway, I generally believe that when it comes to haircare or styling, the less the hair is fussed with, the better condition your hair will remain.

My thoughts.

P.S. Thanks for sharing your website Uzma!

Your balancing theory makes a lot of sense, Uzma. I've heard about it before.
I remember when I was a kid, I washed my hair once a week, but somehow I increased washings to every day over the years.

My scalp isn't really itchy after a day, but my roots become greasy and when I run my fingers through my hair it just feels dirty and gross!
I'm trying to cut it down to once in every two days for the moment. Apart from the oil factor, it would save me some time. But - like SuperGrover said - it's not easy!

Thank you all for your feedback.

I’ll admit that the ‘clean feeling, smell and freshness’ Lady Maria spoke of is addictive. Not so sure that it is healthy when done so often, for the reasons I stated originally.

A while back on a chat-show in the U.K, a young lady who had stopped washing her hair was interviewed.
This lady had stopped using water, shampoo, conditioner, etc.
She had b/s length hair worn loose and it looked in good condition (from what I could tell on the other side of the box).
She had not washed her hair for a year. The first couple of months were difficult, itchy and oily, she said, but after that it had been a breeze. Her scalp and hair had “settled down” and were in a harmonious state. All she did for maintenance was brush it twice a day. This is what the Victorian’s used to do – but I think they also washed their hair a couple of times a month.
The chat-show host touched her hair and smelt it. He said it was smooth but not greasy and that it didn’t smell bad.
I personally would not do this as I think in our polluted world it would not be a hygenic practice. But this is also a trained perspective on what is hygenic – nature vs culture. Nevertheless it was an interesting interview to watch. I did admire that young lady’s patience and resolve.

SuperGrover’s tangling after 48 hrs and Dave’s “less hair is fussed with, the better condition” is also an interesting paradox. I guess it depends on the needs of the individual hair type.
I can do without combing for days, my hair being mostly straight with a few waves.
My sister has quite curly hair and if she doesn’t rake it every few hours it becomes a mass of serious tangles. Would it tangle less if the hair was sufficiently lubricated by sebum?
Why do we think that this natural substance is gross? By the same token, is saliva gross? OK – I won’t mention other bodily fluids – Dave will kick me off the board.
What I’m saying is that stuff that our body excretes as waste is necessary for hygene. Is sebum a waste product or a cleansing/conditioning product?
Hmm, Lyris mentioned that there is some doubt about the way sebacous glands work…
OK. I’ve rambled enough. I’m going to check out the science books.

Glad you liked the site, SuperGrover.
The Hudson river sounds deadly!
A few years back I was dipping in a lake and came face-to-face with a pike (big fish with teeth, makes tasty soup).
One the one hand, it reassured me that the lake was relatively clean and supporting a wealth of life.
On the other hand, I had to get out PDQ.

Uzma

I have always felt intuitively that we are somewhat equipped to clean ourselves....better put, that we are self cleaning. Our bodies slough off dead skin...our "interior areas are self cleaning and our hair , I believe, if it were left to it''s own resources would find it''s own balance. 200 hundred years ago we would not have been havng this conversation because none of the products we have existed. So yes, I think that all we really need for beautiful hair is good food, our fingers and fresh water.
We have all become accustomed to feeling a certain way when we have washed our hair and don''t feel clean unless we have scrubbed all vestiges of human smell from us. This is just my own generalization.

I will share my own experience with this. I have 4 wonderful kids - They never use shampoo in their hair and I don''t force them to. It hurts their eyes (they are all very young). So I make them rinse with warm water and massage their scalp as it rinses. They all have gorgeous hair, have never had a scalp condition, lice, etc.

P.S. I do wash mine every other day and notice that my scalp itches the day after.....hmmm

jacqui

Jacqui

Four little blessings – how wonderful. I bet your ‘nurturing-muscle’ is very well-developed!!
I share your view about the body being self-cleaning. I know it has the ability to self-heal more than we are taught to believe.
We are here today because of our ancestors who, without the kind of “necessities” we require (dependency on synthesized chemicals/medicines etc), survived long enough to reproduce at the very least.
Presently, the challenge for modern urbanites is close-quarter co-existence in great numbers. Smelling each other’s and our own natural smell (I’m not talking dirt here) has become a cultural no-no. We are squeamish about a lot of our natural bodily functions which indicates a certain disconnect/detachment from our intrinsic animal selves.

On the hair angle, I applaud what you are doing with your kids. We took a similar approach with my (now 5 year old) neice, who washes with hot water and a cloth, only uses soap to wash her hands and is other-wise detergent-free. She is strong, healthy and has great skin and hair thus far. I stopped using soap after a bad excema attack two years ago. My skin is clean and has a stability I could only have dreamt of before. Hair has been shampoo-free since Febuary, but I am using other stuff. No itchies, no worries.

Maria

Next time you see that longhaired folk singer, can you take some pics? I need some beautiful longhaired men for my website - LOL.
And you’ve never see a monkey take a bath?? Here you go:
http://www2.gol.com/users/chapa/cphomepage/exhibition/bm1.html

As for long-term use of detergents, you want to step in my shoes sometime and see dermatalogical and respiratory problems from the medical industry perspective. Yeah people, keep over-cleaning yourself and we’ll keep selling you the steroidal anti-cortisones/anti-histamines to control the symptoms. That’s a win:win for commerce and a lose:lose for the consumer….errrr human(?) in the chain.

Uzma
(cynical after too many years working for Pharma-Corp)

There are environmentally safe products Uzma. I'm sure you know some hair products are more natural and environmentally friendly than others.

I'm pro-environment. I'm pro-new technology fuel cell cars, new-tech windmills, solar panels,etc.

So that is what causes allergies, clean hair!!!!!
It is time to file a lawsuit against the shampoo companies. First tobbacco, then junk food and soda pop, next shampoo. What next, oh yeah, coffee and tea, they have caffeine. Of course wine and beer. Knive manufactorers, you could cut someone with a knive.
Yes the world is certainly coming to an end soon. We will all die from pollution, junk food and shampoo.
But all of this has been predicted in the Book of Revelations.
Repent sinners, Repent!!!!! I promise, I will swear off of drugs, guns and shampoo!!!!!

Hey guys, I have now managed to increase the time between washings to two whole days. What a time saving experience this is!

Washing every three days: here I come!

Indeed, way to go, Isla Q.! I'm proud of you.

When you try to increase the interval, maybe go to every 2 1/2 days, until your scalp gets used to that, before going to every 3 days. Just a suggestion, and hope it helps!