Emma Tennick, Clinic Manager at Hair Clinical, explains what leads to greasy hair.
Oily or greasy hair can be a problem for many people, especially those with fine, straight hair. However, these hair oils (or to give it its correct name of ‘sebum), have many essential functions on the scalp.
Sebum is an oily substance and is produced by the sebaceous glands in the scalp, it has many important roles on the skin all over the body, not just the scalp, including skin surface lubrication and water proofing.
It has an essential job in controlling skin surface pH and affects the rate at which dead skin cells are lost from the skin surface. It also aids skin barrier formation and aids our unique skin biome.
When this process falters, i.e., too much sebum is produced or an overgrowth of a certain yeast called Malassezia is present, this can lead to scalp conditions such as seborrheic dermatitis and dandruff.
Did you know?…
- Sebum is produced by the sebaceous glands in the scalp.
- Sebaceous glands are numerous on the scalp and the face. There are approximately 400 – 900 per square centimeter!
- Normally, 1.5 to 2.0 mg cm2 of sebum will be produced each day. Assuming a scalp surface area of 770 cm2, the amount of sebum produced will be 1.2 to 1.5 g per day.
- To put that into perspective, it is roughly equivalent to the ‘pea-sized’ amount of toothpaste you might use to clean your teeth!
- The size of sebaceous glands is regulated by hormones. Androgens enlarge sebaceous glands and increase sebum production. Estrogens have the opposite effect.
If you feel you have excessively greasy hair, or dandruff and you would like help with this, please contact us on- 01437 764144.