Scalp health tips for 4c hair

INTRO

Permit me to share an Uber important secret with you 4c queens. The state of your scalp is very paramount to the healthy growth of your hair.

Think about my statement in comparison to a germinating plant. If you don’t have the right soil for seed germination, or you fail to perfect the condition of your choice soil to assist with the germination process, I am sorry to say, but reaping fruits from your seeds would probably take eternity. The sad thing is that it might never even get to the fruit stage.

Likewise, your scalp could be likened to the choice soil that needs occasional watering/nourishment to get the desired results for your 4c hair.

The scalp’s role in hair growth

To fully understand why scalp health should be top notch, you need to comprehend the role it plays in hair growth.

Not to bore you with medical Jargons or anything, but you should know that the scalp skin like every other skin type has both a dermis and epidermis. It is from these layers, that the hair follicles responsible for the growth of hair on your scalp originate.

Hair follicles are tube like structures/openings on the skin surface through which hair grows out of the skin. The biology of how this happens might not be fun to gulp down, but illd try to simplify it a bit. You see, hair grows in cycles within your follicles. These cycles operate in four phases. The growth phase (anagen), the transition phase(catagen), the rest phase (Telegen) and the shedding phase (Exogen).

The first three phases cover the growth of your hair as well as those activities involved with the maturation of your individual hair strands. The final phase stands solo, with the shedding of old hair, in preparation for the new hair to take its place.

Please note that hair cycles are asynchronous and vary within scalp sites. This means that different phases of the cycle could be existing amongst your hair follicles at the same time.

For instance, the scalp at any point in time, has about 70% of hair follicles in their growing phase, 15% are transitioning with follicular shrinkage/slowing of hair growth, 14% chilling in the resting phase, while 1% are busy shedding off in the catagen phase.

On an average, the Anagen phase of every hair follicle is said to last for a good 2-7 years, after which it transitions for another 10 days in the Catagen phase, then takes a chill pill in the resting/Telegen phase for about 3 months and sheds off in the exogen phase for a good 2-5 months before the cycle commences again.

Why keep your scalp healthy?

After all that I have said about the scalp, hair follicles and phases, I am sure you do realize that the benefits of keeping your scalp healthy could never be over emphasized. A healthy scalp is the perfect fix for healthy and gorgeous coils.

Look at it this way, the scalp is like the soil/foundation on which your hair thrives. When you nourish your scalp, you are sure to see hair progress.

Many are unaware of what a healthy scalp should look or feel like. Some don’t even think the scalp is important enough to give recognition. If you were previously in any of these band wagons and fought vigorously to keep great/healthy hair, then I put it to you that you have been a big-time joker. Not to mock you or anything, but really guys? What you put in is what you should expect in return.

See, each time I think about throwing on a protective style, the first thing my mind goes to, is the percentage of scalp access this supposed hairstyle would afford me. If it restricts the access required to nurture/ nourish my scalp, then count me out of that style.

With that said, it is never too late to take a turn for the positive. The scalp needs as much tender loving care as your actual hair strands. Let’s discuss 5 great ways to ensure your scalp health is always top notch.

5 ways to keep your scalp healthy

DISCOVERING YOUR HAIR POROSITY

Know your porosity: Discovering your hair porosity is a basic but major step to attaining the hair health of your dreams. Simply put, high porosity, medium porosity and low porosity hair types come with their perks and cons. While the low porosity damsels tend to have product build up on their crowns after only a short while, medium and high porosity babes could go slightly longer. Now this seemingly simple information could help to guide on the prompt cleansing of your scalp, thereby aiding healthy hair growth. If you still haven’t discovered your hair porosity, rush to my post on ‘Discovering your hair porosity‘ above and thank me later.
Create a good hair care routine; This cannot be negotiated. A hair care routine that properly cleanses your scalp at least once a month is what I am preaching. It is especially important for my low porosity babes who are quick to have product build ups. In their case, a clarifying shampoo is highly recommended, to ensure that the scalp is thoroughly clean.
Ensure adequate scalp access: Never forget to ensure adequate scalp access with protective styles. Did I mention that I have jitters when a “supposed” protective hairstyle does not give me access to my scalp? I am a comfort lover guys, and asides comfort, any protective style heavy and restrictive enough to reduce access to my scalp is a no for me. Access to my scalp is great for my state of mind and ensures that my LOC (Leave-in, oil and cream) hair care routine is never halted.
Nourish your scalp with the essential nutrients for growth: as much as I love to tuck in my hair and reduce its manipulation, I also need to ensure that my scalp is well nourished and in a great state. When you leave your scalp/hair under a protective style without essential nutrients such as ; a good leave in conditioner , nourishing oils and hair cream, the style take down might end up revealing dry and brittle hair with split ends. This is something 4c queens should flee from, therefore it is best to simply avoid it. An all-in-one spray bottle with your hair products is a simple solution to keeping your hair well moisturized and healthy under a good protective style
Use heat in appropriation: My darlings! Heat is not the enemy here. Rather, it is how you use it and what you use it for that should be considered. The use of heat is beneficial in certain instances such as in hair steaming. It could also be harmless when the temperature isn’t too hot. Now, when you increase the temperature of your hand and hooded driers or perhaps your hair straighteners to maximum temperature, they could hurt your scalp and leave it in a pretty messed up state. The moral of this point is to use heat appropriately and in moderation.