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Scalp massage add-ons at the salon or blowout bar have to be the closest thing to heaven on earth. But what if we told you they don’t just feel amazing, massaging your scalp can help hair grow too! While you’re zen-ing off for a few minutes, probably wondering how to do a scalp massage yourself instead of paying for one, your follicles are getting a dose of blood flow and stimulated growth.
Knowing how to do a scalp massage is relatively easy, but you can promote more hair growth with a few tweaks to the traditional massage method. Read on for how to master hair growth at home with an effective scalp massage.
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Not only does it just feel amazing, massaging your scalp helps hair grow too! Now, we can’t say a scalp massage will give you a full new wig of hair, but it can make thin hair look thicker and promote new growth. In fact, there are have been several studies that studied if massaging the scalp helps hair grow:
In a 2016 study of nine men, participants were given a 4 minute scalp massage each day for 24 weeks. According to self reported findings, all participants had thicker hair than at the start.
Similarly, a study from 2019 used 340 participants who massaged the scalp twice to correct hair loss. They too found their hair to be denser by the end as well.
Studies like these, along with people’s own personal experience (read Taryn’s here!), can be attributed to scalp massage’s ability to help growth via blood flow. Massaging regularly can help dilate blood vessels beneath the skin at the follicle. With this increased blood flow and cell turnover, new hair growth is stimulated.
So, does a head massage help hair growth? We give it a promising yes.
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Learning how to do scalp massage can feel weird at first, like you’re just messing up your hair and not really getting a deep tissue massage. When you’re first starting, go gentle and make small movements with your hands and just apply more pressure as you go.
When performing a scalp massage you should never feel like your hair is pulling or that your follicles are getting sore. You may have a sensitive scalp or you may simply be massaging too hard. Use just enough pressure that you can still easily move your fingertips around while feeling relaxing pressure to the scalp.
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Traditionally, scalp massages are performed with no oil, but to get more growth stimulation at your roots, we highly suggest adding castor oil! Castor oil benefits include increased blood flow (the key to hair growth), antibacterial properties, and lots of vitamin e for moisture.
On dry hair, either before bed or before a shower, prep some castor oil by gently warming it in the microwave or on stove top–it doesn’t need to be hot, just lukewarm to warm.
Next, you can either bend over frontward or lay stomach-down on your bed and hang your head off the size. When doing a scalp massage to grow hair you should try to have your head below heart level to blood flows faster to your hair follicles. This is the inversion method for hair growth!
Now for the scalp massage how to: simply dip your fingertips into your castor oil and massage using both hands. Just apply pressure through the tips, you won’t need your whole hand or palms for this.
Starting from the front hairline, apply light to medium pressure through your fingertips and create small circles to massage the area. Then, slowly work your way across your whole head.
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If you’re short on time or just remembered you haven’t given yourself a good scalp massage lately, you can perform one in the shower.
Depending on your hair type, follow the same massage technique above during either the shampoo process or the conditioner process. For those of us with thin hair, oily hair, or a lot of scalp buildup, we suggest doing this during the shampoo step so your ‘poo can clean better AND your scalp massage helps hair grow.
If your hair can handle conditioner up to the root (i.e. you have natural curls, coils, or dryer strands) give yourself a deep conditioning scalp massage while you apply your conditioner.
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A little scalp massage how to hack: get yourself a scalp massage brush. Some people find they work better than your fingertips, while others simply prefer the way hand-on-scalp massages feel. In either case, these are inexpensive and a great way to give your fingers a break if you’re doing a scalp massage every day. You can also keep one in the shower for scalp exfoliation too!
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For the hair growth scalp massage we suggested above, 5-10 minutes is great. The oil may make this hard to do every single day so on days you don’t want a castor oil hair mask, perform it with dry hands. Ideally, try to do at least a couple minutes of scalp massage every day.
If you’re performing your scalp massage with an inversion pose, 5 minutes upside down can be a lot for some people. So if you ever feel light headed during a scalp massage while upside down stop immediately and return upright. And if you feel like doing so, you can continue your scalp massage upright.
