How To Stop Oily Hair In Its Tracks

By: Louise Forrest
Submitted: 2008-07-01 12:28:52
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Oily hair is caused by, well, extra oil in your hair. But where does this oil come from? The oil you find in your hair is called sebum, a natural oil produced by the body in order to keep the skin moisturized and to avoid drying out. It may seem a little contradictory if you have dandruff due to oily hair, but this is only because dead skin flakes off naturally and the presence of too much oil in your hair is trapping the flakes. The flakes then collect and become greasy and it is harder for them to disperse.

Yes, you are probably sitting there thinking, Ew, gross, but oil just happens to be a natural thing. Oily hair does not necessarily mean dirty hair. The problem you now face is that there is too much oil and you want to learn how to be rid of it.

Just like any problem you might have with your skin and hair, there are always various reasons for an issue to come about. Hormones have always been linked to excess sebum production, such as in the case of acne. If you are taking birth control pills that may be one reason you now find yourself with oily hair. Birth control pills toy with your hormones a little, which may be throwing your sebum production out of wack. The trick to stopping or at least slowing down oily hair is to know what the reason is and adjust accordingly. Obviously you cannot just stop taking your birth control pills, but there are other options you can take a look at.

Frequent grooming can help attribute to the look of oily hair. When you comb or brush your hair, you are essentially dragging sebum from close to your scalp and around the roots of your hair down through the rest of your hair. Avoid being too brush happy, as it will only result in your hair looking and feeling limp and greasy.

On the same note, people that are always touching and playing with their hair are only aiding in the oiliness of their scalp and hair, so be mindful of idle fingers!

Eating healthy foods can improve your body in many, many ways. The body is always in need of vitamins, minerals, and other nutritious elements to remain fresh and in top notch. Do not neglect your vegetables, fruits, and water. Keeping the nutrients in the body balanced may help with hormone regulation and assist with toning down your sebum production.

Before hopping back into the shower, consider your shampoo and conditioner routine. What kind of shampoo do you use? What kind of conditioner, if any, do you use? Shampoos that specifically target oily hair can be easily obtained and contain specific ingredients meant to help cleanse your hair of excess oil. Thoroughly massage your scalp and be sure to shampoo from root to tip before washing it out.

As for conditioner, you can either choose to use a conditioner made for oily hair or forgo conditioning entirely. Should you decide you want a conditioner, avoid applying it to your scalp and roots of your hair. As you already have plenty of natural oils moisturizing your hair, adding conditioner will only make the problem worse. Just use it on the tips of your hair where moisture is most needed. Otherwise you can easily forget all about conditioner.

Washing your hair daily or every other day will be up to you and how your scalp reacts to the differences in time. Some people need to shower every day to control their oily hair, and others only wash their hair every other day or even just twice a week.

Other things you subject your hair and scalp to, such as chemical treatments or different styling products might only be adding to your oily hair problem. Try not to go overboard on products and read labels to find out if that product is for oily hair or contains any oils of its own.

Oily hair does not have to be a problem if you do not want it to be. You might even try asking your stylist for ideas on how to control oily hair or receive product suggestions.

Article source: Expert Articles