How often do you wash your hair?

[jeffsss]

daily? twice a day?

all my life it's been twice a day, but that's usually when i notice hair fall out...

thinking about cutting back maybe it'll help till my propecia kicks in in 2 months (been on for 1)

what do you guys think?

 

[20sometingtoo]

I dont think shampooing twice a day is a good idea.

You're scalp and hair need their natural oils to stay healthy. If you're stripping them of those oils then I'll bet you're doing more harm than good.

Just my opinion of course.

 

[Goingat20]

once a day with one day off every week

 

[Bryan]

You're scalp and hair need their natural oils to stay healthy. If you're stripping them of those oils then I'll bet you're doing more harm than good.

Scalp and hair have no known or proven use whatsoever for oil or sebum.

BTW, I post on an acne forum occasionally, and it fascinates me that virtually everyone over there also uses the rather exaggerated words "strip" and "stripping" in that same context, as in "Washing your skin strips it of its natural oils", as if you're doing something really TERRIBLE to it, just by washing! But that's probably just a lot of rubbish.

Bryan

 

[HairlossTalk]

Thank you for interjecting fact once again Bryan. Very much needed on these boards!

HairLossTalk.com

 

[The Gardener]

Scalp and hair have no known or proven use whatsoever for oil or sebum.

True statement!

My ex-girlfriend worked for a dermotologist, he said the same thing. Well, more specifically he focused more on skin oils, saying this phenomenon of 'non-drying' facial cleansers was nothing but a load of bull used by grocery product makers to sell high priced facial soap.

First off, myth number one... dry skin causes wrinkles. WRONG. Wrinkles are caused by the ageing process triggering facial skin to 1) hold less fat, which makes skin 'thinner' looking, and 2) produce less quantities of certain firming proteins. The biggest cause of wrinkles is sun exposure, as the radiation damages structures beneath the skin that keep it firm, as well as the known cancer risks.

'Non-soap, moisturizing' facial washes are loaded with lipids, or fat. The fat 'puffs up' the semi-dead layer of skin on the surface and makes it look smoother, but underneath that, the fat actually accelerates the clogging of pores and reduces the skin's ability to expel toxins.

He says that using soap does strip the skin of oils, but in his opinion it was far MORE important to use a real soap that would clean these oils OFF of the face, as these oils contain dirt, pollutants, and excreted toxins that collect in them during the course of the day. Failure to clean these substances off inhibits the skin's ability to excrete toxins, and is terrible for your skin on the long term.

If you want to save your youthful skin, don't waste money on expensive facial washes or moisturizers... instead, use a simple non-comedegenic SPF20 sunscreen or better moisturizer, EVERY day.

 

[Def]

Interesting that you deem Bryan’s interjection as “factâ€￾.

Having completed a Medical Science degree, I can attest to the fact that sebum certainly does have “provenâ€￾ uses in the body. Sebum, being lipid or oil based acts to prevent moisture loss from the dermis and follicles, helps to regulate bacterial and fungal colonisation of the dermis and follicles and is even suspected to have a role in immune regulation.

An excess or lack of sebum production is NOT desirable and can lead to over-colonisation by micrococcus and other bacteria predominant in the skin, leading to acne, inflammation, dryness etc etc.

To say that the scalp and hair have no proven use for sebum is ignorant. Yet, so is saying “finasteride causes cancerâ€￾ and many other such things that crop up on these boards.

Laters

Def

 

[Armando Jose]

I am with Def,

Sebum is vital for hair in my oppinion, but not old sebum oxidized and acumulated. The good sebum is the fresh sebum and then,later, must be removed.

Armando

 

[biff]

Quite a few hairs will fall out everytime you wash so I would say it is best to keep it to a minimum. Two or three times a week should be enough.

 

[20sometingtoo]

You're scalp and hair need their natural oils to stay healthy. If you're stripping them of those oils then I'll bet you're doing more harm than good.

Scalp and hair have no known or proven use whatsoever for oil or sebum.

BTW, I post on an acne forum occasionally, and it fascinates me that virtually everyone over there also uses the rather exaggerated words "strip" and "stripping" in that same context, as in "Washing your skin strips it of its natural oils", as if you're doing something really TERRIBLE to it, just by washing! But that's probably just a lot of rubbish.

Bryan

What other words would you have used?
I simply suggested that washing your hair twice a day was probably removing what nature put there for a reason. Much in the same way that brushing your teeth too often or too hard can result in a receded gum line.

 

[Dave001]

Scalp and hair have no known or proven use whatsoever for oil or sebum.

True statement!

My ex-girlfriend worked for a dermotologist, he said the same thing. Well, more specifically he focused more on skin oils, saying this phenomenon of 'non-drying' facial cleansers was nothing but a load of bull used by grocery product makers to sell high priced facial soap.

First off, myth number one... dry skin causes wrinkles. WRONG.

Is it really a false belief? Or just an unfounded/unproven one?

There's no doubt that the skin care industry is largely composed of bullshit and mythology to move products. However, the hydration status of skin (whether too much or too little water) obviously has a profound influence on its recovery from injury, as in wound healing, so I'm not prepared to entirely dismiss the possibility of a role for hydration in skin aging without strong evidence.