A scalp treatment is a comprehensive care process to clean the scalp of dirt, prevent scalp diseases, and rejuvenate scalp health. Scalp health involves much more than washing your hair every other day with shampoo and conditioner. You must ensure that your hair is always clean, free from product buildup, and looks healthy.
Many people do not know the difference between a simple hair care routine and scalp treatment. The former is what you do every other day with basic washing, drying, and styling. However, the latter involves more than that. This guide will answer vital questions you may have about scalp treatment.
Types of Scalp Treatment
You must start by knowing the different types of scalp treatments available. Scalp treatments are often categorized broadly into either oily or dry scalp treatments. Each category caters to different needs. Therefore, you need to consult with an expert on which is the best for your hair.
Oily Scalp Treatment
An oily scalp is a nightmare for many women that they would love to wake up from immediately. The reason for this is not hard to understand. An oily scalp leads to oily hair, which is unpleasant.
The solution may be as simple as having a regular hair washing process to remove scalp buildup. You can always get medicated shampoos and other hair products to scrub your entire scalp. These special shampoos contain salicylic acid, zinc pyrithione, coal tar, and selenium sulfide, which are good for oily scalps. However, it is not always this simple.
A chronic skin condition or sensitive skin means that the oiliness in your scalp may require more attention. In that instance, the solution is to consider professional treatment options. A hair expert can help create a treatment plan involving topical treatments, laser treatment, or any other suitable option.
An oily scalp treatment uses shampoos, conditions, exfoliants, and oils that will remove product buildup from your hair. They will also rejuvenate your hair by reducing inflammation and oiliness. However, an oily scalp treatment may lead to frizzy hair, so you should follow it up with a moisturizing routine.
Dry Scalp Treatment
The other extreme is to have a dry scalp. A dry scalp gives you dry, limp, and brittle hair. A dry scalp may result from a skin condition or damaged hair. A dry scalp often accompanies dry skin, but you can deal with them separately. To treat both conditions together, you should visit a dermatologist.
Your dermatologist or general doctor may prescribe some oral antibiotics for skin infections or introduce other treatment plans. Effective treatments for flaky scalps include hot oil treatment, tea tree scalp treatment, topical medication, or washing hair with prescription shampoos.
Again, a dry scalp is a common condition you may be able to sort with a simple wash using an over-the-counter dandruff shampoo. After cleaning your hair, check your scalp to see if there is anything else to worry about. You can also check out some home remedies for dry scalps. They use ingredients such as apple cider vinegar, tea tree oil, anti-yeast shampoos, and other over-the-counter products.
The Process of Scalp Treatment
The scalp treatment is easy to perform once you understand the process. The best option is to go to a salon and get serviced by professionals. However, this does not mean you cannot do it yourself. Here is a simple process for effective scalp treatment.
Normal Wash
Start your scalp treatment with a normal hair ritual. Shampoo and condition your hair with gentle hair care products. Take the time to wash out all the scalp buildup with cold water. You can use warm water if you have a lot of buildup from your leave-in products and styling creams.
During this stage, improve your scalp health by massaging your scalp while washing. Scalp massages are also great for increased blood flow, which leads to healthier hair. However, you may also have to deal with hair tangles from natural hair types, so get ready to work through them.
Scrub or Exfoliate
After washing your hair, the next step is to go a step deeper. Get a good hair masque to exfoliate your scalp. Scalp scrubs or exfoliators are similar to skin scrubs.
The process requires you to coat your hair follicles thoroughly with the hair masque. Leave it for some minutes and wash it away. While washing the exfoliant away, you will notice many dead skin cells leaving your scalp.
Meanwhile, you must be careful with exfoliation if you have sensitive skin. For example, exfoliating your scalp may aggravate serious skin disorders like atopic dermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis, scalp psoriasis, and hair loss. Consult your doctor on how to keep your hair healthy despite these skin barriers.
Seal the Nutrients with Oils
Finally, it is time to seal in the nutrients. A scalp treatment is a comprehensive process that removes buildup from your hair. Afterward, it leaves your hair clean with new nutrients added through the products.
The final step is to seal these nutrients with good hair oil. Start with light oils if you are unsure how to go about it. Then, finish it with essential oils like coconut, tea tree, and argan oil.
Why Should I Do a Scalp Treatment?
Scalp treatment may seem like a tasking endeavour but it is worth the effort. Regular scalp treatment gives you many benefits, including:
Regulating Secretion of Oil
The first thing scalp treatment does is regulate the oil secretion on your scalp. Regulating oil secretion in your scalp is important because too much will cause dandruff. Conversely, too little oil in your scalp will lead to a flaky scalp. Hence, you need to have the right amount of oil in your hair to get a balance.
Preventing Hair Thinning
Regular scalp treatment strengthens your hair against thinning and other common scalp diseases. Hair thinning may be a consequence of your overall health failing. But if that’s not the case, you can consider treating it separately. Scalp treatments will strengthen your hair follicles from the root and prevent them from becoming brittle.
Slowing Scalp Ageing
You cannot cheat on age. As you grow older, your hair starts showing signs of age. Hair loss and greying are parts of the ageing process. However, frequent scalp treatments will slow down the ageing process. The secret is that scalp treatments improve blood circulation through your scalp, which revitalizes your hair strands.
Removing Dead Skin
Buildups removed from your hair are not always from hair care products. For example, exfoliating during scalp treatments remove dead skin cells that may not leave during normal hair wash. A thorough scalp treatment will also protect you against an infestation of lice and similar diseases.
Relaxing the Body
Scalp treatments come with a deep scalp massage that thoroughly relaxes your body. The scalp is one of the most sensitive parts of the body. Thus, you will feel the effects of a scalp massage throughout your body. Regular scalp massages can improve your scalp health and make you feel temporarily better.
Preventing Product Buildup
Very few people are consistent with washing their hair daily. Sometimes you just use dry shampoo to make your hair look better for the day. This effect is a gradual buildup of products that gives you frizzy and dull hair. A cider vinegar scalp scrub sealed with spearmint oils will do more than a casual wash.
In summary, regular scalp treatments should improve your hair and scalp health. Your hair is a part of your body and should not be exempted from your general well-being.
When Should I Do a Scalp Treatment?
You should have a scalp treatment regularly to protect your hair and encourage healthy hair growth. You can get a scalp treatment weekly or every two weeks if you have healthy hair. This is enough to prevent itchy scalps and mild scalp psoriasis and reduce the risk of infection. In addition, weekly scalp treatment appointments will guarantee you a healthy scalp and luxurious hair growth.
On the other hand, people with extreme scalp conditions like dandruff, psoriasis, eczema, thinning hair, and itchy and flaky scalp need to do more. Therefore, you should start by knowing more about the diagnosis and treatment of scalp diseases before concluding.
Once you get a diagnosis from a qualified doctor or dermatologist, you should learn preventive measures against permanent hair loss. You should have scalp treatments three to four times a week if you belong to this category. Then, with proper guidance from an expert, you can overcome your hair challenges.
Final Thoughts
It may be time-consuming to research various parts of scalp treatment. There is a lot to know and you can easily get confused. Hopefully this guide has answered the most important questions you may have.
So, when you ask “what is scalp treatment?” consult this guide for comprehensive answers. We also covered how to go about it and the benefits of scalp treatment.
