Dandruff aids in hair growth
I heard this Old Wives Tale all my life and it started as a child. Where did I hear it? Not sure but it is just as absurd as it sounds. First of all let me discuss what dandruff actually is.
Dandruff is a condition of the scalp that causes flakes of skin to appear. Dandruff is a common condition, which is marked by itching. In some cases it can be embarrassing and not easy to treat.
Your hair strand grows from follicles about 1/8th of an inch beneath the surface of your skin. Hair growth is hormonal and nutrients found in your diet and supplements* support hair growth. Hair is comprised of Keratin (protein) and dead skin cells (that have been compressed to form Keratin) that have been forced along the follicle towards the scalp.
Now, how do the two interact to create growth? They do not. There is no scientific evidence that connects dandruff and the hair growth process.
If you are having either minimal or severe dandruff problems you may need to seek out a professional like a Dermatologist, a Trichologist or a Holistic practitioner.There are natural or OTC remedies but just allowing the dandruff to fester is not going to make your hair grow any faster than it already is.
Dirty hair grows faster than clean hair
Can I just say I really hate this one? This one does not make any sense any more than the other two as anything dirty means pollutants and in the case of hair product build-up and dirt. How can that make your hair grow? Never washing your hair is unsanitary and this may have come about because it is believed that black hair does not require the same frequency of cleansing as naturally straight hair.
What is true is that your hair cannot handle the harsh shampoos that some use daily so we try to minimize the use of shampoos, saving it for clarifying and also using essential oils* to protect our hair.
Washing once a week to twice a month (for some) should suffice and remember a clean scalp is a healthy scalp. The bottom line is that dirty hair does not grow any faster than clean hair…period.
Lmbo! I just called my Grandmother about the wet hair wives tale and she isn’t budging on it at all. We had a good laugh about it.
I’m telling you…my mother won’t budge on it either! Thanks for sharing.
Lol! Your welcome!
Im a nurse, and medically I know its not true. But I still will not go out with a wet head because my grandmother told me so. Lol
Ah, yeah you can get sick if you go out with a wet head. Especially if you don’t dress well. It has nothing to do with old wives tales.
Interesting article and I agree with what is said regarding the hair. However I wanted to comment on what was mentioned in regards to not drinking dairy when sick. I would say that in the case of sickness that results in vomiting, skipping the dairy may be wise for some.
My mom had mentioned that to me when my daughter was sick once. She said an old nurse told her that when she was younger. I never thought much of it, until years later when researching milk allergy. Found out that there is such a thing as a milk allergy that can come about as a result of drinking milk too soon after episodes of vomiting. It said something about the lining of the GI tract getting damaged by the acid and the milk protein can cause an allergic response (can’t remember the exact details). It caught my attention because it had actually happened to me few years before and I finally realized I wasn’t just strange.
What happened was, I never had a problem with dairy, caught the flue and had episodes of vomiting, flue seem to have left but not the vomiting. Actually it got worst. I started vomiting blood especially after ice-cream or my favorite comforting dairy drink and had other symptoms like excessive bloating, muscle weakness etc. Nothing helped, medication prescribed did absolutely nothing. Finally after weeks, my mum in desperation said may be I should stop drinking milk…I was well in 2 days flat when I did stop. After a few months, my milk crave drove me to goats milk which I had read was less likely to cause an allergy. It went down well and about a year later I was drinking whatever dairy I wanted again. I thought the whole thing strange until I read the information I mentioned above.
(I am tempted to delete such a long comment, unrelated to hair care but who knows, it might just help someone else. So please forgive me ; )