Hair greying and scaly scalp

As winter arrives slowly and steadily, the dryness in the air is affecting our skin and especially, scalp skin, which is covered by hair. The scalp needs extra moisture and extra care now. One of my patient said, “… in winter, I don’t sweat, so I don’t feel like washing my hair frequently.  And again washing hair frequently dries up the hair. So how should I maintain my hair?”

The statement is true, but partly. Scalp needs extra moisture. But the moisture of hair is combination of oil and water. Applying oil and doing gentle head massage must be more frequent than before now.  This will reduce dryness of whole body. Ayurveda calls it ” Tarpan”. This is excellent remedy for – a. Good night sleep b. Good nourished scalp c. Well nourished hair d. Reducing eye dryness. Scaly scalp is again a sign of severe dryness in entire body system. To protect against heat, body system generates more heat than usual, as a normal phenomena. As per Ayurveda, Pitta dosha increases to protect the immunity. In this case, Vata releases through extremities of the body, such as hands, feet, head and overall body skin. So entire body needs to be moisturized. Additional consumption of ghee and oil helps to accommodate with this heat and reduce Vata and Pitta dosha. Thus, increasing Kapha dosha balances the body moisture. However, local moisturizing process on hands, feet, head and overall body skin must be a regular process in Winter. Scaly dry scalp is sign of poor nutrition in the head. It also indicates lack of tertiary protein and vitamin B 12 in appropriate quantity. So Tarpan on daily basis with appropriate hair oil is important. For some skin, Almond oil and Olive oil are the right choice, whereas in some skin types, coconut oil, mustard oil or sesame oil are most effective. Depending on your skin type, you should choose appropriate hair oil for Tarpan. Lack of nutrition in roots of hair results in greying of hair, breaking of hair, splitting of hair and excess hair fall. So Tarpan is the most important process, one should follow in winter. Adding good amount of Bhasma i.e., Rasaushadhi, in the hair oil with right process helps in wonderful care for hair.

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