You might be tired of the increasing hair fall or damaged, dull, and dry hair. Are you searching for how to properly take care of your scalp? We’ve got you covered.
Have you ever wondered that your scalp needs the same care you do for your face skin? Well, certainly not! We’ve never thought of taking care of the scalp regularly.
It’s just because the scalp lies beneath your hair doesn’t mean it’s not the part of your skin.
Most of us might think of keeping our scalp healthy by trying out a new expensive shampoo or getting a keratin treatment.
Why don’t you think about ‘proper treatment.’? Take an appointment with your dermatologist, start a restorative treatment, and make it part of your daily routine.
A Healthy Scalp
Another question might arise in your mind. How would you know that your scalp needs treatment? Well, when your hair starts losing its shine, grace when they become dry and dull.
Scalp skin is healthy when there’s a perfect balance of the following things:
Protection
Cleanliness
Proper circulation
Moisture and Oils
pH balance
When all of these things are in a perfect balance, you’ll certainly feel an improvement in your scalp skin. But that demands a cost –your attention and care.
Most people never forget applying moisture on their hands and faces. But the thought of applying any moisture and oil on the scalp never crosses their mind.
Let’s dig a little deeper!
The scalp is a crumple zone behind your hair with many layers. The upper layers are merely dead keratinized cells, while the lower ones are the healthiest, enriched with blood circulation.
Besides the hair follicles, the deeper layers of the scalp contain the Sebaceous gland. This gland secretes oil to lubricate your skin. A healthy scalp care routine focuses on removing excess oil from the skin.
Steps to Maintain the Scalp’s Skin –On the Way to A Healthy Scalp
Just like you treat your face with an exfoliator or cleanser to make it shine, the toner to balance pH, and moisturizer to keep it moist –your scalp needs the same.
What are you waiting for? Let’s have a look at all the essential steps to keep your scalp healthy.
Exfoliation comes first!
Have you ever faced itchy scalp’s skin, clogged follicles, or hair dullness? If yes, then it’s probably due to negligence in exfoliating your scalp regularly. Let’s talk a little bit about how important exfoliation is.
Exfoliation means agitating and removing the dead skin cells, the upper layer, either by a chemical or organic product. This term is pretty common when we talk about the face.
The scalp exfoliation is equally important because it makes way for the fresh hair follicles and skin –ultimately the healthy hair.
Moreover, exfoliation keeps the Sebaceous glands secrete sebum at an average rate. So, your scalp remains nourished and healthy.
How often you need to exfoliate your hair?
Well, regularly exfoliating your hair isn’t safe at all, and not possible for everyone to take time out of their monotonous routine.
You have to make sure that you are exfoliating your scalp skin twice or thrice a week. Otherwise, doing it once a week is still adequate to eliminate dead cells and debris.
Let’s get things underway!
You’ve to follow the following tips while exfoliating.
Apply a gentle face exfoliator or scalp exfoliator before shampoo.
If your nails are long, make sure you don’t massage with your fingertips, it may scratch your skin. Well, you might be aware of it.
Use a soft brush instead to ensure a gentle exfoliation process.
For better results, apply your shampoo too and rub, in a circular motion, for up to a minute.
It will remove the stuck grime and debris from your skin. Now rinse well.
You can also apply an exfoliating scalp mask.
Best Exfoliating Masks
Are you pretty confused about getting the best exfoliator? Well! Let’s get to it. Here are the top 3 best scalp exfoliators.
R+Co Crown Scalp Scrub
Briogeo Scalp Revival Scrub Shampoo
Quai Scalp Scrub
Moreover, you can also use grapefruit or eucalyptus essential oils for keeping your scalp fresh.
Maintain a Balance of Moisture and Oils
Just imagine if you start washing your hair daily to keep them healthy, what would happen? Your hair will start getting drier and drier instead of healthy.
That’s the reason we recommend not to shampoo your hair more than 2-3 times a week. When you shampoo your hair regularly, you are ripping the natural oils of your scalp skin. The ultimate result is dry skin or psoriasis.
Make sure you add any natural oil to your hair-care routine for better nourishment. Only in this way you’d be able to keep a balance between moisture and oils.
An amazing fact!
Your diet determines your health. Eat a lot of chia seeds and salmon to boost up the level of Omega-3 and fish fat in your diet.
Moreover, don’t forget to nourish your scalp with aloe Vera gel twice a week. It will eliminate dryness and dandruff.
Keep a Perfect pH Balance –Healthy pH leads to a Healthy Skin
When your scalp is healthy, your hair is ultimately healthy. And that’s the barometer for your health. Our bodies function best when the pH level is best.
How would you know your scalp has a rising or falling pH?
When you notice a noticeable increase in your hair fall or your hair is dry or limp, then there’s probably something going wrong with pH.
So here comes a healthier pH that you have to maintain in between 4-5. When the pH is in the narrow range, the fungus and bacteria will automatically keep away. Sounds cool! Isn’t it?
A healthy pH tightens the skin pores and locks the hair in the follicles. What’s the result? There will be no hair fall!
What makes pH fall from optimum value?
The harsh shampoos are the products of alkali responsible for pH imbalance.
You can prevent this by increasing vitamin and mineral uptake. Plus, don’t forget to seek your dermatologist to figure out the pH balance.
Keep Your Scalp Clean –Cleanliness is a key to healthiness
Would you like to have a stinking scalp with a lot of bacteria’s clogged up? That might be a shameful situation when your scalp is spreading smelly rays in a bunch of people.
Certainly not! No one likes it.
What’s the catch?
Here are a few tips to keep your scalp clean and bacteria-free.
- Make sure you wash your hair with lukewarm water.
- In summers, wash your scalp up to three times a week.
- In winters, make sure you are not washing it more than two times.
- Make the use of tea tree oil part of your routine.
- Don’t use hair products that contain mineral oil and silicone.
Blood Circulation Affects Your Scalp’s Health –Take care of it!
You might be wondering how blood circulation determines your scalp’s health. Well, your existence, your moves, your life experiences are all brought by the blood circulating in your vessels.
Then how can you neglect it when it comes to your scalp or hair health?
The nutrition you take will reach out to your scalp?
Yes! It will, but only when the circulating blood system is efficient. Not only the nutrition, but the necessary oxygen reaches out to the scalp skin cells via the blood.
Have you ever wondered what would happen if the necessary nutrients won’t reach your scalp?
The results are drastic and damaged hair follicles –so the hair. Just think about blood circulation as watering and pollinating a plant. It’s crucial!
How can you improve blood circulation?
Hair massage is the most effective way to enhance blood circulation. You can either massage your hair from essential oils or organic stuff. Whatever it is, don’t forget to massage.
But keep in mind, for the sake of increasing blood circulation, don’t push your scalp too hard. Gently rub it with smooth circular motions.
If you can give 5-10 minutes to massage your head twice a week, it’s well and good. But if not, then at least massage it once per week.
An interesting thing! Yoga is the root cause of a healthy life. If you have a little time, you can boost up blood circulation by taking up a few yoga steps. It’s soothing!
Limit taking a lot of Chemical Treatments –Be cautious!
Do you love blow drying on a wedding or a party night? Or you crave to have coloring treatments to keep yourself updated on the trend?
Well! These treatments will undoubtedly make you look adorable and confident.
And you know what?
Deep down, they are actually damaging and irritating your scalp. Many elite-level and dermatologically-approved treatments are safe up to 90%. But what about that 10%?
We are not saying to stop having these treatments, but be cautious about the side effects. Make sure you are taking any hair treatment from a professional to prevent any damage.
Moreover, take advice from your stylist or dermatologist that how often you need any particular treatment.
Shield Your Scalp from the Sun
Most of you might be aware that the sun damages your facial skin, burns it, and even cause skin diseases. Have you ever wondered the sun also affects your scalp skin too?
Let’s get down to it!
Excessive disclosure to the UV rays of the sun causes skin cancer. And it’s the most diagnosed form of cancer in the US, which can also develop on the scalp’s skin.
Make sure whenever you are doing some activity in the sun for longer periods of time, cover your head with any hat or scarf.
Plus, for ultimate UV protection, you can also apply ‘Spray-On-Broad-Spectrum sunscreen’ to the scalp. Some shampoos come with sunscreen in them; you can go for them too.
What happens when you stop taking care of your scalp?
If you are not treating your scalp in the way it needs to be, then you’ll have to face some irritating problems. Some of the common problems include:
Folliculitis
When bacteria or fungi infects your hair follicles, the condition is known as folliculitis. It can cause smashes or bumps that resemble whiteheads or red blisters on your scalp.
How can you get rid of it?
There are many shampoos for Folliculitis available in the market that can help you mitigate the infection. These shampoos are rich in Echinacea, tea tree oil, or burdock that kills the bacteria’s and restore the skin.
Scalp Eczema
The itchy red swollen rash on the scalp that looks like a raised bump is known as scalp eczema. It’s a condition when your immune system becomes hypersensitive to harmless substances.
It starts reacting by causing inflammation at that scalp area as its protective role.
If you suffer from this condition, go for the shampoos containing borage seed oil, coal tar, or evening primrose oil. These substances are much effective at alleviating the eczema situation.
Conclusion
Healthy hair starts from a healthy scalp. Invest your efforts in it because it’s a crown you have to wear every day. Stop thinking about how to properly take care of your scalp; start doing it now!
If you really want your hair and scalp healthy, you have to follow all the tips mentioned above. Despite all of these tips, you have to focus a little bit on your eating habits too.
Your skin is a perfect depiction of what you eat. So eat healthily! And get your scalp skin healthy.
Not only will your hair become healthier, but it’ll also become sleek and shinier.