SUMMER SEASON

Have you noticed how your scalp sweats during the sweltering heat of the summer season? Just as the body screams for a cool treatment so also do the scalp and the hair. The state of the scalp is more serious as it takes time to dry what with the cluster of hair on it. The heat of the body evaporates, but the heat of the scalp gets trapped. This is besides the sweat and the pollution. The best way to treat the scalp and the hair is to wash it frequently during the hot season. But excessive washing is harmful for hair. Hence go for a mild conditioner or shampoo that is without alcohol. Alcohol traps the heat and does not allow the hair to dry easily. Pores of the scalp get clogged due to pollution, heat and dust. Shampooing with the right mild conditioner relieves the scalp and in turn you too will be more relaxed.

HENNA: Paste henna on the hair and the scalp leave it and for three hours as you go about completing your chores on a weekend or a holiday. Later wash it out. Henna gives a light brownish colour to your grey hair, removes extra oil and also keeps the scalp cool.

MONSOON SEASON

The additional humidity during the monsoon season is the reason why you need to give your hair the extra care. The texture turns dull and lifeless. The hair falls flat and gets loaded with extra oil. The scalp sweats leading to itches demanding constant scratching that becomes a personality issue. There is hair loss and you feel uneasy and get easily irritable. To tackle these monsoon scalp problems and bring back the bounce to your hair, the least you can do is to flatter the crown a bit.

Don’t get worried because of the monsoon hair loss. It is temporary and may last only till winter sets in.

The panacea is to use Henna whenever you can spare the time. Besides being a good conditioner, it will tackle the excessive oil deposits as well as the trapped moisture. If you don’t use Henna, the condition may lead to dandruff and more problems of the scalp subsequently.

Remember not to use any gels, mousse or artificial conditioners. Don’t go for any chemical treatment as well.

WINTER SEASON

The hair can become too dry during this season. Massage oil at least a week and use conditioners to maintain the moisture levels. The hair remains less greasy and dirty than in the other two seasons. This is because winters are less humid and there is less of sweating. So reduce the number of shampooing sessions.

SHAMPOO TYPE: Never use a hard shampoo or one that has alcohol. Go for a mild one that is alcohol free. Alcohol stops the hair from drying. Rub the shampoo into the hair shafts and deeply but softly into the scalp.

RINSING METHOD: The shaft ends will get cleansed when you rinse the hair. Rinse with a cream or a conditioner. The cream takes care of the tangled hair while rendering it soft and accords the hair a shine. The conditioner softens the hair and adds nutrients besides giving it the extra shine.

If you are suffering from lice infestation or dandruff, you can use an anti-lice conditioner-cum shampoo or anti-dandruff conditioner.

NATURAL DRYING: Natural and manual hair-drying is an art. So, don’t hurry through the process. Spread out the hair and let it dry by itself, at least partially. Then, dry it slowly with a cotton towel.

Nylons or artificial fabrics should be avoided as they harm the hair while the hair with a synthetically prepared towel generates magnetism that hampers the healthy growth of hair. Do it leisurely and carefully.

DIENTANGLING THE HAIR: Next use a hard-rubber or animal horn or a hard plastic comb that is wide-toothed to gently disentangle the strands. Don’t use any metallic ones as they break the hair.

For the people who used anti-lice conditioners, this is the best time to catch hold of the lice, dead or alive and also their nits (lice eggs). While you comb, bend down over a white spread of cloth. As you comb you will find the lice and nits on the cloth. Kill the live ones and dispose all. A dedicated regular process will get rid of the lice syndrome as well as the dandruff effect within a month’s time. However, you need to do it at least four times a week over 30 days.

It is only after this manual process that you should use the dryer, if at all.

BLOW-DRYING: You can definitely use a blow dryer only after manually drying the shampooed rinsed hair and disentangling the adamant strands. But hold the hair dryer at least 10 inches away from the head. Else, there is the possibility of the hair and the scalp suffering heat damage.

WARNING: While many opt for the clinical operations, some go for the across-the-counter medications. There are still quite a few who choose to wear wigs or move about flaunting their baldness as they fear the after-effects of the clinical processes. Baldness is deemed fashionable too. So, check out whether you back up the first group or join the second and safer option. Obviously, you should consult your physician before popping in any pill or applying any cream or unilaterally dish out money for any cosmetic surgery. There may be side effects.

Also known alopecia, this hair loss syndrome can affect only the scalp or the entire body. It can be partial or total as well as temporary or permanent. Among the known causes of hair loss are hereditary factors, diseases affecting the entire body, aging, scalp disorders, reaction to drugs and ionizing radiation.

HAIR TRANSPLANTATION: This is a purely cosmetic surgery. There are various processes of doing this meticulous office technique. This technique was developed in the 1950s to compensate for male pattern baldness. It involves the removal of small tufts of hair containing active follicles, mostly from the back of the head. The tufts are then grafted to bald areas. From 200 to 300 tufts are usually required, and the grafting sessions take place once or twice a week. In a similar operation, the surgeon grafts 15 to 20 discs of 3.5 mm hair-bearing skin from a fertile area to the bald spot. Hair grows in the targeted site. On the flip side, it needs to be mentioned that the cultivated portion even after a successful operation does not closely resemble a full head of natural hair. Nonetheless, clients consider the result a distinct cosmetic improvement.

MEDICATION: You need to consult the physician prior to taking any drugs. Here we are just mentioning the facts about certain medications. Many physicians prescribe regular application of the cream containing the drug minoxidil (brand name Rogaine) as an alternative to hair transplantation. This drug was originally developed to fight hypertension. Minoxidil needs to be applied daily over a period of months to prevent further baldness, or grow hair again. The claims of the manufacturers with reference to hair growth are yet to be clinically established, though.

In 1997 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug finasteride for treating baldness. It is marketed under the brand name Propecia. The manufacturers of this drug claim that this prescription medication prevents hair loss due to hereditary male pattern baldness.

One needs to take a small daily dose. The FDA also recommended that women of childbearing age must avoid contact with the drug as Finasteride does not prevent baldness in women, and especially because it has been associated with birth defects.

THE TARGETED GROUP: Men become bald more than women. Normally, inherited female pattern baldness affects menopausal women – that is, women around the ages of 45 to 50 years old. This suggests a link to hormonal changes.

However, women do carry the genes that determine pattern baldness and pass them on to their children.

CAUSES: There can be varied reasons and factors causing alopecia. The most common ones are some diseases, scalp disorders, aging, reaction to drugs and treatments, and ionizing radiation, besides hereditary factors.

DISEASES CAUSING BALDNESS: These ailments are generally characterized by prolonged illnesses. Drug poisoning, disorders of the endocrine system, malnutrition, and some other ailments can lead to baldness. Long bouts of scarlet fever or typhoid can lead to sudden loss of hair from the scalp and also from the entire body.

ALOPECIA UNIVERSALIS: This severe form of baldness causes total and permanent loss of hair from the entire body. This includes even the eyelashes and eyebrows. Studies are on to ascertain the exact cause of alopecia universalis.

HEREDITARY BALDNESS: When hereditary baldness occurs, the oil glands in the scalp and the hair follicles deteriorate. As a result, the hair slowly becomes thinner. With time, only a few strands of fine, downy hair remain.

MALE PATTERN BALDNESS: It is the most common form of inherited baldness. It appears most frequently in men in the 30 plus age group. However, it may also occur prematurely even in the mid-teens.
Male pattern baldness usually begins with a partial loss of hair on the upper temples and on the crown of the head. Finally, it spreads evenly. This heredity baldness can be due to the hormonal changes that accompany the aging process.

TEMPORARY BALDNESS: Baldness can also be due to certain extraneous factors. Temporary baldness may be due to exposure to ionizing radiation as from explosions of nuclear materials, and also from X-ray machines and other equipments used to treat cancer. Chemotherapy also used in cancer cases destroys all rapidly dividing cells including those in the hair follicles and thereby cause temporary baldness.

SKIN: The scalp is a part of the human skin that constitutes the body’s largest organ. The skin of an average adult male weighs 10 to 11 lb (4.5 to 5 kg) and measures about 22 sq ft (2 sq m) in area. It covers the surface of the body at a thickness of 0.06 to 0.16 in (1.4 to 4.0 mm). The skin is thickest on areas of the body that regularly rub against objects, such as the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. Both delicate and resilient, the skin constantly renews itself. It also has a remarkable ability to repair itself after injury.

HAIR: The largest amount of hair on a human body grows on the scalp.  It is a distinguishing characteristic of mammals, a group of vertebrates that includes humans. A thick coat of body hair is known as fur. It protects many mammals from the cold and from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. In humans, this protective function is limited chiefly to the hair on the scalp.

SEBORRHEA: If dandruff is not diagnosed at the initial stages, it can cause many diseases of the scalp. One common ailment caused by dandruff of the scalp skin is called Seborrhea. Its symptoms are increased or altered secretion of sebum, or fatty matter. These items are manifested by an oily or scaly appearance of the skin, especially of the hairy parts.

EFFECTS: They may interfere with hair nutrition, and resulting in partial baldness. Sebum can also accumulate in the gland ducts. This makes the glands distended with the un-discharged sebum that form a small hard body called a whitehead or comedo. If the sebum in the duct mouth gets discolored with dirt, the comedo is called blackhead.

BALDNESS: Also known as Alopecia, baldness is a disease. It can lead to partial or complete loss of hair from the scalp. Baldness can affect the entire head or can be at certain spots. Besides the afore-mentioned scalp disorder, lice infection can be another cause of baldness. It can be in the extreme form leading to constant scratching caused by itching as the lice bite the scalp to suck blood.  Other causes of baldness can be reaction to drugs, diseases affecting the entire body, aging, hereditary factors and ionizing radiation.

DANDRUFF REMEDY: Dandruff is tackled by frequent uses of medicated shampoos as prescribed by the physician.

OIL MASSAGE

This is an ideal therapy to boost blood flow into the hair follicles and also beneath the scalp besides removing the dead scalp cells. A good oil scalp massage relaxes the mind and body. The best part of oil massaging is that you can yourself do it or choose to have it done by an experienced professional or hair expert. Properly done oil massage produces natural oil from the scalp. It is thus an ideal way to check dry hair and augment blood circulation throughout the body. This is possible even if you do not complement the scalp oil massage with a body massage (with or without oil. Of course, a combination of both will doubly benefit you, psychologically and physiologically!

The moot point is not to use excessive hair oil as the scalp always secretes natural oil and there is already enough oil on the scalp. Your externally applied oil should only complement the process of natural production and spread of the natural oil and not to retard it.

HAIR OIL TO USE: Lukewarm oil helps it to easily penetrate the pores of the hair follicles. Always go for natural hair oils medicated with brahmi, neem, neela, vibhitaki, bringaraja, amalaki, haritaki and similar herbs. You can add one Vitamin E capsule to the oil before massaging the mixture into the scalp.

MASSAGING METHOD: You should use a cotton pad to apply the concoction on the hair. Massage the oil into the scalp using your fingertips.

WHAT NOT TO DO: Avoid vigorous massage as it causes the brittle and weak hair to fall. Don’t go for a massage before putting the oil as massaging is a cleaning process and too much of scalp cleaning interferes with oil input.

HAIRSTYLE: To get relief from the heat, ensure that your hair is not over your neckline. Tie long hair with a nape off the neckline. But don’t tie the hair too hard as the hair needs space to get dried. So, after taking bath or shampooing give your hair the much needed time to dry naturally and by itself. It will tackle the moisture and dry out the excessive heat.

THE COMMON FACTOR: Though vastly different, the eggs of lice called nits are often confused to dandruff as both are white in colour. Whatever the white flakes may be, if they are left untreated they can lead to various ailments of the scalp. Besides both are public nuisances, and cause embarrassment to the person concerned. Hence, you should immediately consult the doctor and take the prescribed measures.

DANDRUFF: Dandruff is chronic syndrome. The scalp skin flakes off in excessive amounts. Dandruff may be caused due to dry scalp or excessive secretion from the sebaceous or oil glands of the scalp. Studies are on to find out the exact causes.

DANDRUFF REMEDY: Dandruff is tackled by frequent uses of medicated shampoos as prescribed by the physician.

LICE INFECTION: On the other hand, lice infection is caused by the antlike parasite that survives on blood they suck from the scalp. Lice infection has been the subject of research among health detectives. However, till date all across the counter medications have proved to be solutions only to a marginal degree.

TOOLS VARIED, MISSION ONE: Varied items are generally used for the homemade anti-lice concoctions. These are as follows: lemon, butter, vinegar, Aloe Vera, mayonnaise, olive oil, and tea tree oil. (Pl check out the article on alternative remedies on lice control)

DEDICATION PAYS: These natural therapies are to be complemented with frequent combing of the hair with a close-nailed comb daily. These flea or lice combs are ideal tools to remove nits, nymphs and even adult lice. Nothing succeeds like a concerted battle against these parasites that can change their colour to adjust the color of the host hair. So, resolve to wage a non-compromising war against the parasite that survives on the blood of your scalp.

SHAMPOOING & COMBING: The strategies include washing the hair with anti-lice shampoos and following it up with a strenuous combing with a flea comb instead of a lice comb. The combing helps to collect the dead lice and even the live ones on a piece of white tissue paper. Any white wide linen or cloth is the better alternative. Such a process over a week’s time considerably helps to check lice infestation.

HOW LONG THE PROCESS BE CONTINUED? Even if the symptoms may diminish, it is advisable to continue the process to obviate any possibility of the lice or their eggs taking roots again.

HOW DO THEY SPREAD: Lice spread fast and invade silently! These parasites survive on blood they suck from the scalp. They camouflage themselves by changing their colour according to the hue of the host’s hair. They crawl, jump and at times “fly” short distances to move from one head to another.

CHECKING LICE: They cannot survive without the scalp. So it is necessary that steps are taken to ensure that they do not have a hosting place in the first place. This can be done by not using the personal items of people who have head lice. These include combs, hair brushes, pillows, caps, head scarves, hats, towels and any other things connected with the head. This is primarily because these things are ideal places where eggs and lice can live for a short time. They move at the slightest opportunity to another’s head.

 VULNERABLE GROUP: A single louse, be it a baby or adult, on the head is enough to transform your head into a maternity ward for lice. The single-louse infected head breeds lice within a few weeks time. The clusters of hair on girls’ heads are thick and thus provide the ideal hiding and breeding place for the parasites.

THE LIFESPAN OF A LOUSE: Lice have three stages of development. It all starts with the laying of eggs by adult female lice. These eggs called nits are of the size of grains. They are laid at the base of hair shafts close to the scalp. They are often confused with dandruff. Left untreated, the nits hatch to give birth to the new-born lice called nymphs within a weeks time. They look similar to adult lice but are smaller in sizes. Their sizes are that of sesame seeds. Within the span of 10 days they become adult lice that live for approximately 30 days. So, the entire life cycle of lice is about 50 days or seven weeks. The adult lice are like ants while the baby lice are like sesame seeds. They have head, abdomen, thorax and six legs.

TWO WAYS LICE SPREAD: The two ways of easily contracting this scalp lice syndrome is contacts: close and head-to-head. These are two activities we often indulge in to express love and affection or while playing or trying to discuss or understand something intimately. Very soon, the lice moves from one head to another and before you know it you as well as other family members are also infected. It seriously affects their concentration levels. They become irritable as a result.

THE SYMPTOMS: The common symptoms are a tickling sensation as the lice crawl or move around the scalp. There will be very strong urge of itching. The patient takes to the habit of scratching their heads repeatedly, and it slowly turns into an embarrassing habit. Chronic itching becomes an allergic reaction to the lice bites which they do to suck blood from the scalp. Continuous itching and repeated scratching develop sores on the scalp. At times, blood oozes out and the scalp skin becomes susceptible to infection.

The water that oozes out from the sores can spread infection to other parts of the non-infected scalp and bodies too. Hence we should not share combs, brushes, towels, soaps and even pillows, caps, hats and any items that a person with head lice may be using.

Homemade alternative cheaper versions have gained in popularity. Nevertheless, nothing succeeds like a dedicated battle against these parasites that change colour to camouflage themselves. Though most of the lice are black in colour, studies have found that these usually black parasites do change their colours according to the hue of the hair.

The Common Process

Whichever means you go for, remember to keep the concoction on the scalp for at least an hour, and not to shampoo the hair the same day. Once you paste the scalp with any of these naturally prepared medications, keep the head covered with a shower cap. Then rinse with lukewarm water. Finally comb briskly to bring out the lice, dead or alive, and also the nits.

The Methods

Regular use of vinegar, olive oil or mayonnaise destroys the nits and lice within two days. Mayonnaise needs to be massaged into the scalp. Aloe Vera, olive oil or the mixture of butter and lemon should be simply applied. Use vinegar to wash the hair.

TEA TREE OIL-SHAMPOO MIXTURE: You can mix 10-15 drops of tea tree oil with the regular shampoo and use this mixture daily.

TEA TREE-OLIVE OIL MIXTURE: Just mix two to three tablespoonful of tea tree oil with a cup of olive oil and rub the patient’s scalp with this magical concoction. Cover it with a shower cap for about an hour. First, wash the hair to remove the oil. Then, rinse it with vinegar. This is done to loosen the hold of the nits on the hair shaft and scalp. Wait for 10 minutes, and rinse the hair with hot water. Next, you need to repeat twice the vinegar-hot air process. Finally, use a flea or lice comb to pull out the remaining nits.

OLIVE OIL: First, completely soak your hair in olive oil. Then, wrap it for about two hours. Next, rinse the hair with your regular shampoo conditioner. Finally, comb out or manually remove the nits and lice. This process needs to be done twice a week.

For better results, you should use flea combs in stead of lice combs. If the lice syndrome becomes really adamant, go for trimming your hair to a shorter length. In extreme cases, shaving off the hair helps. After that, ensure that you do not use personal items with the person having head lice. These items include towels, combs, brushes, hats, caps, pillows and such items that remain in contact with the hair.