In this cross section of the skin we see the different glands connected to the hair follicle.
Attached to the follicle is a sebaceous gland that produces sebum. This moisturises the hair and scalp and have an antibacterial effect. Attached to the bottom of the follicle is this little muscle: Musculus Arrector Pili. This bundle of smooth muscle fibres is attached to the deep part of the hair follicles and passes outward alongside the sebaceous glands to the papillary layer of the dermis. They act to pull the hairs erect, causing “goose bumps” or “goose flesh” in humans. This muscle is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system, meaning that we have no conscious control over it and you can't voluntarily give yourself goose bumps.
When stimulated, the Arrector Pili will contract and cause the hair to become more perpendicular to the skin surface, causing “goose bumps”. The contraction of Arrector Pili will press on the sebaceous gland and squeeze out sebum that will move out of the follicle to the surface of the skin.
No matter what wash method you use, you can make this mechanism a part of the wash. After applying the product you use to clean, you can give the scalp a cold rinse to squeeze the sebum out to the surface of the skin where you can wash it away. From what I can see, it doesn’t even need to be cold for long to get the effect. So you can turn the heat up again shortly after to wash the sebum and dirt away. The muscle will contract and press the sebum out that otherwise wouldn’t be coming out until the next day or so. This should be more cleansing because it cleans out more than just the surface sebum and keep your scalp grease free for longer so you can stretch the time between washes. So to speak, you will clean away scalp grease in advance.
This made me think of George Michael’s theory… He believes stimulating the hair strands by brushing will exercise this exact muscle to make it stronger and make it hold on to the strand for longer (= Reduce shedding) Maybe cold rinses will stimulate the muscle in the same way since it contracts and relaxes several times?
I haven’t seen any more scientific evidence behind his theory, so maybe I’m trying to see a connection that isn’t there
What is a fact though, is that temperature changes stimulates the blood flow to the skin and the supply of blood is an important factor of both skin and hair health
Hm. I think since sebum is made up of a mixture of waxy substances and triglycerides and fatty acids, what we experience is the oils separating and moving down the hair strands a bit from - gravity and brushing I guess? And most surfactants are better at removing the oil than the waxy stuff.
ReplyDeleteWell, that was meant for the sebum post! Anyway, thanks for your blog!
DeleteI know this is really old but maybe you still read them... wouldn’t you want to do this before you cleanse your scalp?? Wouldn’t doing the cold rinse after you apply the product to cleanse just make it dirty again? Sorry if that doesn’t make since. I’m fairly new to all this. Well I’ve been going really long between washes for years now, but then I just wash with regular shampoo and didn’t realize that meant I was kind of restarting the process over each time. I do it for medical reason. I am epileptic and I tend to have seizures when I shower so it is very dangerous. I can go a few months about 3 now but it is definitely extremely itchy and hard to deal with. The build up of sebum (waxy) gets really bad. It also doesn’t smell great. But luckily my husband has sinus issues so he can’t smell very well and I never leave the house due to my medical issues. So it’s not like I have anywhere to be. Lol :)
ReplyDeleteNow I at least use a low cleanse shampoo.
You were really not kidding that this was old! lol
DeleteI only caught this by random chance.
Well, no, as I wrote you should probably do the cold rinse as the first part of your rinse, after you apply whatever cleanser you chose, shampoo or herbs or conditioner or whatever you chose. You would want something to "catch" the squeezed our sebum already on your scalp once you start with the cold water. Water alone isn't that good at dissolving and removing sebum. Or you could do a cold rinse before applying the cleanser as well.
Not really sure if this actually works though. In theory, this should help "drain" the follicles, but I don't know if it actually makes a difference... At any rate, it sounds really unpleasant to use a cold rinse until you get good bumps! Just using cold water isn't enough, it needs goose bumps to form.
Any idea why you get seizures specifically when you shower?
Oops sorry, there was an error and it made my reply post as a separate comment below. Also, it posted it from “unknown”. Let’s see if it actually shows my name this time. ��
DeleteOh and in the comment below, I meant “shower” not “slower”, and low “lather” not “leather”. ��. I’m assuming you figured that out, but just in case... lol.
Well I get them other times as well. But also in the slower. One of my strongest triggers in any sort of temperature change, hot or cold. So the water would have to stay perfectly room temperature and even then just the fact that you are wet and the air makes you cold in room temp water. Then the water fluctuates temp on its own a lot. It’s just a disaster. It’s not that bad when I can just jump in and out really quick and wash my body (usually I just wash up in the sink and with wash cloths though, I don’t leave the house and it’s not worth cracking my head open or going back into a coma over.) but being in long enough to wash my hair isn’t an option. So I usually either go get it washed at a salon every now and then or have my sister wash it in the sink. If I have to give myself goose bumps then it would make me have a seizure for sure, so never mind on that one lol. Right now every time I get my hair washed I am having them shampoo it so am I started the process over from the beginning? Do you never shampoo your hair or is that what you do once a year? When/if you do what do you use? What is your opinion of the low leather shampoos? Also the Micellar shampoos? Sorry for all the questions. Do you have something more recent I can follow?? Thanks so much!!
ReplyDelete