Webs’ Random Ideas

I wasn’t sure where to file this but I guess weird stuff works…

So I have bad skin. Not that its ugly or anything but it dries out easily, I have psoriasis, and something with my scalp. A dermatologist told me my scalp wasn’t psoriasis, but wouldn’t tell me what it is. I haven’t visited that one since. I don’t think it’s dandruff cause anti-dandruff shampoos don’t help and I have tried them all. So my guess is psoriasis or seborrheic dermatitis.

I’ve lived with this my whole life. Nothing cures it and all I can do is keep it under control and wait for something that works. So I’ve tried some small things over the years to see if something helps and really nothing has helped much. I did notice that putting olive oil on my scalp seemed to help but things just come right back when I stop using it. And putting oil on your scalp gets cumbersome quickly.

So floating around the tubes I see an article about giving up shampoo. Interesting idea, especially if it works:

I haven’t used soap or shampoo anyplace on my body for six months, save hand washing in advance of food prep. That’s it. let me just report my observations and leave you to judge.

[...]

Later, and maybe TMI: My wife now mentions more than ever before that “you smell good.” OK, I had to post that only because some might worry on that score….

In that link the author highlights some main points or advantages he has witnessed. Which is kind of what peeked my interest. Not to mention all the comments of other people that have given up shampoo. I’ve grown highly skeptical over the years and I don’t just make assumptions about things. So I’m treating this as a loose experiment for myself to see what happens.

The idea is that shampoo doesn’t allow your body to regulate the oils released from the scalp to the hair. Which is why most people don’t go more then 3 days without shampoo and shower, hair gets too greasy. But when you don’t use shampoo your body has a chance to produce the oil and regulate the production. Which is why people that stop using shampoo reach a point where their hair gets less greasy and eventually the greasiness returns to normal levels that feel similar to shampoo days.

It sounds a little shaky yes, but I’m at the point where I’m willing to try. Like I said above my scalp sucks. My plan is to simply to shower like I normally do but not use shampoo at all. So what are my results?

I have been doing this for a week and a half going on 2 weeks now. So what are my results? The first 5 to 7 days were about as greasy as I’ve been in awhile, but I feel as though the grease is slowing down now. Maybe not, but my wife has yet to comment on the greasiness of the hair. Well she did last night but it had been 1 and a half days since I last showered and she said that it didn’t seem all that greasy to her.

Results:

So far my scalp has itched a lot less than usual which is good, but my scalp doesn’t feel a lot better. I still have flakes and they haven’t seemed to slow down a lot but I’m thinking that will take time. My hair feels a million times better. This is probably one of the best outcomes of no shampoo. After I showered with shampoo my hair would be frizzled to all hell. Now it feels great, more natural, and healthy. I have very few split ends and no more frizz. So even if it doesn’t completely cure the scalp and flakes I still have a lot of our positives for sure. And I’m not even to week two yet.

The other thing with this is it could all be placebo or a result of something else. I will have to see how my results progress to see if there is a real difference. Or I could do no shampoo for a few months and then go back to shampoo to see what happens. But I think if I have what appear to be positive results from my experience I will likely not go back to shampoo.

So there are some benefits so far, but nothing as what other people have witnessed. Which means one of two things, I need to wait longer and/or there may be nothing to this idea.