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Essential Oils for hair growth
- Thread starter jellynote
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<font color="red">I'm not posting this to put down those who firmly believe in the benefits of essential oils or who intend to use them. I'm posting solely to provide cautionary information because I believe that when it comes to our health, more knowledge is better. Even if we choose to continue using essential oils, at least we know the risks as well. Please read it in the helpful spirit in which it was intended.</font>
I used to be gung-ho about putting essential oils on my scalp for hair growth but I read something recently that changed my opinion. According to what I read, all I was doing was increasing irritation and the photosensitivity of my skin (i.e., scalp) and thereby damaging my scalp/skin and hurting my skin's healing process. Rather than helping my skin, I've been hurting it. And yes, I used carrier oils with my essential oils before massaging them into my scalp...but I always thought that "tingling" feeling meant it was working. Or, at least, working the way I wanted it to (i.e., stimulating my scalp). Instead, I may have very well been hurting, not helping, my scalp by irritating it - yep, that "tingling" sensation.
Why is irritating my scalp a bad thing? Because, apparently, it inhibits my skin's immune response, its ability to heal, prevents cell growth and ultimately diminishes its structure by breaking down collagen and elastin, the building blocks of skin. What's really disconcerting is that even if skin is irritated, the damage taking place underneath the skin does not always show on the skin's surface, despite the fact that problems are nevertheless taking place.
The photosensitivity caused by essential oils is also a big deal to me because I've read numerous times that sun exposure can trigger an inflammatory process that leads to accumulated skin damage and, ultimately, the deterioration of collagen and elastin ( déjà vu), depletion of disease-fighting cells, and free-radical damage. Some of the styles I like to wear, e.g., cornrows, flat twists, expose my skin to the sun.... And even if the skin doesn't show it, or may not act irritated, apparently applying irritants (like many essential oils) to the skin (scalp) still causes damage to occur and accumulate over time. In other words, I thought I was helping my scalp when all I was doing was hurting it.
If any one is interested in where I got this information from, please feel free to PM me. I know a lot of us swear by EOs, and I used to too, but I'd rather be safe on my hair growing journey than sorry. Until I know more, I'll get my scalp stimulation from EO-free massages and exercise to increase my circulation.
I used to be gung-ho about putting essential oils on my scalp for hair growth but I read something recently that changed my opinion. According to what I read, all I was doing was increasing irritation and the photosensitivity of my skin (i.e., scalp) and thereby damaging my scalp/skin and hurting my skin's healing process. Rather than helping my skin, I've been hurting it. And yes, I used carrier oils with my essential oils before massaging them into my scalp...but I always thought that "tingling" feeling meant it was working. Or, at least, working the way I wanted it to (i.e., stimulating my scalp). Instead, I may have very well been hurting, not helping, my scalp by irritating it - yep, that "tingling" sensation.
Why is irritating my scalp a bad thing? Because, apparently, it inhibits my skin's immune response, its ability to heal, prevents cell growth and ultimately diminishes its structure by breaking down collagen and elastin, the building blocks of skin. What's really disconcerting is that even if skin is irritated, the damage taking place underneath the skin does not always show on the skin's surface, despite the fact that problems are nevertheless taking place.
The photosensitivity caused by essential oils is also a big deal to me because I've read numerous times that sun exposure can trigger an inflammatory process that leads to accumulated skin damage and, ultimately, the deterioration of collagen and elastin ( déjà vu), depletion of disease-fighting cells, and free-radical damage. Some of the styles I like to wear, e.g., cornrows, flat twists, expose my skin to the sun.... And even if the skin doesn't show it, or may not act irritated, apparently applying irritants (like many essential oils) to the skin (scalp) still causes damage to occur and accumulate over time. In other words, I thought I was helping my scalp when all I was doing was hurting it.
If any one is interested in where I got this information from, please feel free to PM me. I know a lot of us swear by EOs, and I used to too, but I'd rather be safe on my hair growing journey than sorry. Until I know more, I'll get my scalp stimulation from EO-free massages and exercise to increase my circulation.
You're welcome, ladies. JFemme, if you're interested, there are a number of medical journals and at least one cosmetics industry newsletter that can point you in the right direction.
I didn't post it on the Board b/c I didn't want to annoy people with extraneous information, should my post not have been of interest to anyone. But please, JFemme or anyone else who is interested, feel free to PM if you want the info.
I agree, Soulchild, that EOs should be very well diluted with carrier oils but I see two concerns: one, skin cells are quite permeable, so even diluted EOs could still create irritation (since the damage caused by irritation is not always immediately evident on the skin's surface but is cummulative); and two, if you dilute the EO to the extent that irritating the skin is not possible (say, an infinitessimal amount), then the desired effect of the EO (tingling or "stimulation"/irritation) is also not possible.
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