How to Treat Greasy Hair

Greasy hair makes you feel miserable. Your scalp feels itchy, your hair looks and feel lank and you are always getting cruel comments from other people.

You feel dirty even though you only washed your hair the night before.

There are certain things you can do to help treat greasy hair.

Many people with greasy hair find the only way to make their hair look good is to wash it daily in the morning, knowing that by night-time it will need washed again.

Yet this frequent washing exacerbates the problem and makes it worse. The act of hair washing involves stimulating the scalp, when you massage in the shampoo, and also when you rinse it off.

This stimulation of the scalp encourages the sebaceous glands, which are situated under the skin, to produce more oil (called sebum) which is then released through the hair follicles.

And so the cycle continues.

Here are some ideas about how to treat greasy hair.

• Instead of washing your hair every day, try putting some talcum powder on your hair every other day. Just sprinkle on, leave for a few minutes to allow the powder to absorb the sebum, then brush through well.
• Avoid hair brushing in general as much as possible. The more you brush, the more you will stimulate the sebaceous glands to produce yet more oil and grease.
• Avoid touching your hair or head if you can help it. The more you touch, the more grease you will stimulate to be produced.
• Change your diet. Drop sugary and fatty foods from your diet. Eat more vegetables and lean meat. Many studies have shown a rapid improvement in over-active sebaceous glands which leads to greasy hair, skin and acne, simply by changing your diet.

There is only one actual cause and that is over production of sebum by the sebaceous glands which cover most of your scalp.

This could be caused by:

1. hormonal changes brought on by puberty, pregnancy and breastfeeding, and menopause.
2. A poor diet can cause your body to do strange things including over-producing oils. Diets rich is fats and sugars can be considered poor.
3. Certain medical conditions have to ruled out, like Parkinson's Disease or MPB (male pattern baldness), allergies or Candida. See your doctor to make sure your greasy hair is not being caused by something else going wrong in your body.
4. It may be genetic. If one of your parents had naturally greasy hair, you may be carrying the gene pre-disposing to it.

I've never suffered from greasy hair except for a brief spell when in my early teens, and I so I had to search the forums throughout the net for treatments that work.

Any shampoo with the words 'clarifying' or 'oil controlling' on the label should be preferred to normal shampoos.

When washing your hair, lather in well and leave on for a couple of minutes, much like you would do if you were using conditioner. Rinse well afterwards.

Have the water lukewarm, as hot water can stimulate those pesky sebaceous glands.

Don't use conditioners, unless they are specifically designed as being for greasy hair, and even then, only apply to the ends of your hair, not to the scalp.

Rinse off well afterwards.

You could try using astringents to help dry off your scalp.

One particular recommended brand is Dabur Vatika Enriched Coconut Oil as this contains lemon essential oil.

Several people were quoted as saying this worked well for them.

Astringents to try using as a conditioner (apply after washing and before final rinse) include lemon juice, vinegar, apple cider vinegar, witch hazel and mouthwash.

The idea is that they dry off the scalp and hopefully slow down the overactive sebaceous glands.

Several people highly recommended washing hair in Suave Daily Clarifying shampoo, and then rinsing well before applying 3 or 4 capsules of the original brown Listerine, leaving for a few minutes then rinsing off.

Apparently this mixture really works so well worth a try.

The odd thing about this mixture is that many people reported that their greasy hair disappeared forever after using this treatment, though some had to use it twice before their hair grease went away completely.

Zinc supplements and Oil of Evening Primrose may be helpful in controlling the over-production of sebum.

Another shampoo which has had good reports in the treatment of greasy hair is Herbal Essences Drama Clean Refreshing Shampoo which is infused with citrus blossom and green tea.

If you have found out how to treat greasy hair, you will be a huge help to others if you would be kind enough to leave a comment at the bottom of this hub to say which treatment worked, or didn't work, for you.