Did you know you could be damaging your hair and not know it. Using the proper brush is one of the most important elements in maintaining and rejuvenating healthy, naturally beautiful hair. A nourishing diet and avoiding toxic chemicals are other important elements that are beneficial as well.
Most brushes are bad for your hair if you use the wrong brush for your hair type. You could be sabotaging your hair. Hair brushing advantages will only come by using the correct tools and instruments. Did you know that brushing with synthesized bristles creates hair friction? Friction can lead to cuticle breakage and thus resulting in hair that is lusterless and frizzy. And that’s not what anyone likes to experience after a good brushing.
Is it your hairbrush that’s causing your split ends? What are some of the most common causes of hair damage? To find out the answers to these and other questions, check out my article on the best brush to avoid split ends. In this article, I’ll show you how to prevent split ends and how to conceal them. Yes, that is correct! A truly effective product!!!
Did you also know that brushing your hair is a form of dry cleaning. Proper brushing can remove certain unwanted materials in your hair, including deposits of uric acid crystals, catarrh and other acids and impurities that build up and become deposited on your hair and scalp. Back in the old days before exotic shampoos bushing was used a a way to keep your hair hygiene in check.
Does brushing also condition your hair?
Hair brushing also conditions your hair, so it goes beyond cleaning. Your scalp is stimulated by brushing and this massaging and brushing moves the natural oils from your scalp and root areas all along the hair shaft down to the ends. As a result your hair is coated with your own natural oils making your hair shiny and healthy looking. Moisture is restored making your hair more sheen, smooth and of course more manageable and less frizzy. Or now days if you do not have the time to brush your hair 100 stokes twice a day you can just skip all that and use a good high quality conditioner or you can use coconut oil. For more, read my article on does coconut oil help static hair? I believe in today’s modern world of great products you have a choice and both methods have merit.
But brushing too much can also be damaging
Unfortunately, too much of a good thing can be bad, right? Brushing of your hair can damage your hair and prevent it from growing really long. And the reason why is brushing causes friction that can damage the cuticles. Bristles put pressure on your hair and overtime the end results may cause breakage. Too much brushing is particularly bad for long hair because as your hair grows, the ends become drier and more likely to split. conditioning products can help prevent damage but once damaged has occurred their is no repair other than to cut off the split ends.
Can the benefit of hair brushing can be surprising?
Here is what is claimed to take place when you brush with a boar bristle brush. It stimulates the capillaries in your scalp and thus increases the blood circulation and transports oxygen and nutrients to the hair stem, root and bulb. This action also helps to balance the sebaceous glands by stimulating them and allowing them to breath better while retaining natural oils. some claim that sebaceous gland imbalance is often to blame for hair loss, as overproduction and underproduction of sebum cause weakening and undernourishment of the scalp. I personally find this hard to believe that it actually has any thing to do with actual hair loss. I believe most of the factors that control hair growth are out of our my and our daily control. The best step we all can take is to avoid hair loss and thinning is to avoid poor nutrition by making sure to eat a balanced diet and stay hydrated.
So by now you may be asking how fast does hair grow?
The answer is the rate or speed of hair growth is about 1.25 centimeters or 0.5 inches per month, or about 15 centimeters or 6 inches per year. So it’s going to take a long time to grow hair, it does not happen overnight. so at that rate its going to take 1 year to grow about 6 inches of hair. So to grow hair down to the middle of you back for example, it’s going to take roughly 6 years.
How to bush your hair the correct way
How to brush your hair the correct way by bending over and starting at the nape of your neck and brushing down to the ends. This spreads your natural oils from the back of your neck area to the ends of your hair where it’s needed the most to help condition and prevent split ends. Then after brushing bent over, simply lift up and start brushing from your front hairline all the way back to the ends again. What you are aiming to do is to spread the oils from the hairline to the ends. Most if not all your natural oils are going to be concentrated along the back of your neck. that’s why bending over to brush is very important otherwise you are going to miss out on a lot of natural oils.
Three types of hair:
- Fine to normal hair – boar bristles
- Normal to thick hair – boar and nylon brush
- Thick hair – nylon
References
Sherrow, V. (2006). Encyclopedia of hair: a cultural history. Greenwood Publishing Group.