It Takes a Healthy Scalp to Grow Healthy Hair

October 30, 2018

Laura P.

A Healthy Scalp Starts at the Root

Admit it. You splurge on fancy shampoo and conditioner, and your vanity is overflowing with hair serums and styling products, all in the name of beautiful hair. But it turns out that all that product is building up, even with regular shampooing, and hurting your scalp. To return your scalp to a healthy state, you need to free your follicles from what’s building up at the roots.

Getting to the Root of a Healthy Scalp

If your scalp could talk, it might tell you it’s hungry, irritated, and suffocating. Here’s why:

• Buildup Can Block Nourishment: New hair is born in the follicles, which get nourishment from blood flow in your scalp. When dead skin and oil accumulate at the hair roots, this buildup blocks nourishing blood flow and inhibits new hair growth.


• Dandruff is Worse Than Ugly: A natural, yeast-like fungus lives on even a healthy scalp. It’s perfectly normal and harmless unless it grows out of control. When that happens, you suffer the inflammation, itching, and flaking commonly known as dandruff.
  
  You might consider dandruff a purely cosmetic issue, but it’s a bane to scalp care. Why? An irritated scalp produces thin, damaged hair as well as the embarrassing white flakes that make you shun dark clothing.
  
  
• Your Scalp Gets Acne: Sweating it out is great for bodies and minds, but potential trouble for a healthy scalp. If you don’t clean sweat away, you can get irritation and breakouts at the hairline. Makeup and facial moisturizers also accumulate there. And yes, you can get acne on your scalp and under the hair.


• Dry Shampoo is a Dirt Magnet: Dry shampoo is popular for good reason. Essentially aerosolized powder, dry shampoo soaks up oil to help you go longer between full shampoos to keep hair color vivid and extend the life of your weekly blowout. Styling with dry shampoo also takes far less time than even your quickest wash-and-go hair routine. But dry shampoo also holds onto dirt and hair styling products, suffocates hair follicles, and irritates your scalp. This creates a real challenge for those who want a healthy scalp.

Deep Cleansing for a Healthy Scalp and Healthy Hair

Because you’re not about to ditch your hair products and because healthy hair starts at the roots, cleansing should focus first on scalp care. Instead of washing your hair, wash your scalp to remove buildup and residue of all kinds.

Apply shampoo to the roots and lather, focusing on your scalp. Use your fingers and firm pressure to massage shampoo into the scalp, nape of your neck, and sides of your head. There’s no need to scrub the full length of your hair. Letting the suds drip through to the ends is enough to get the hair shaft clean.

If you’ve overdosed on dry shampoo and styling products, you might be tempted to add clarifying shampoos to your scalp care routine to strip buildup. Don’t do it. They’re too harsh. You’ll end up with tangled, brittle strands and a dry, itchy scalp. Instead, loosen buildup on the scalp naturally with a high-pressure, hand held shower head. The WATERPIK HairWand delivers a targeted PowerComb^TM spray that thoroughly rinses hair down to the roots while stimulating blood flow to maintain a healthy scalp.

A Heathy Scalp is the Foundation for Healthy Hair

Beautiful, healthy hair starts with a healthy scalp, and a healthy scalp starts with good scalp care. Now that you know your scalp needs thorough cleansing at the roots, your best hair day ever could be a lather-and-rinse away.

Source: Way, Gina. “The Hidden Complexion.” Oprah Magazine. Peter Rosa/thelicensingproject.com.