Oils For Healthy Hair

Many practitioners believe that the application of certain oils can help in the treatment of hair loss.

Over many centuries the human population has been searching for remedies to cure or at the very least slow down the process of hair loss. The ancient Egyptians applied concoctions directly to the scalp or drank and ate them in a bid to try to combat the balding process. The Greeks thought that rubbing pigeon droppings onto their heads would stop the hair thinning and going bald, and would stimulate regrowth.

Over the years there has been no shortage of creative remedies or attempts to save rapidly receding hairlines. The Indians and Chinese believed that the use of oils and herbs would help to stimulate hair re growth. This process may seem a little dated, but in recent years many more people have been using oils to stimulate their scalp in the hope that it will make their hair grow back.

The ancient Egyptians used this method and believed that rubbing caster oil onto the scalp would help the hair to grow back. On occasion they would add some sweet almond oil to help improve the smell. Coconut oil and olive oil were also popular oils used by ancient Africans and Polynesians.

In a study carried out in Scotland in 1998, it was shown that the application of oil could help with some specific types of hair loss. This study was that of a randomized, double-blind controlled methodology and centered on the investigation of aromatherapy in patients who suffered with alopecia areata. This is a condition in which the body’s immune cells start to attack the healthy hair producing cells.

In this particular study, 86 patients were placed into two different groups. One group (the active group) would have had their scalps massaged daily with four essential oils - thyme, rosemary, lavender, and cedar wood, contained in a mixture of jojoba and grape seed oils. The other group (the control group) had only their scalps massaged with the mixture of jojoba and grape seed oils, on a daily basis.

This study ran for seven months and the results were quite interesting in that 44% of people in the active group showed improvement compared to only 15% in the control group. It was concluded that aromatherapy with these essential oils may be safe and were also deemed to be effective for the type of hair loss known as alopecia areata.