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New Choices in Natural Healing: Dry Hair and Skin

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Dry Hair and Skin

Don’t take this personally, but you’re all wet. Well, more than half wet anyway. Water makes up 60 percent of the average adult’s body weight and more than 70 percent of non–fat tissue such as skin.

No wonder you can feel so dried out. Radiator heat, blow-dryers, deodorant soap and dehumidifiers can all rob you of the moisture you desperately need. That can leave your hair brittle and strawlike and your skin flaky and dry. The natural remedies in this chapter, used with your doctor’s approval, may help relieve dry hair and skin, according to some health professionals.

See Your Medical Doctor When...

You have redness, oozing, crusting or other signs of irritation.

Aromatherapy

To help chronically dry skin retain more of its natural moisture, Fair Oaks, California, aromatherapist Victoria Edwards recommends this fragrant face and body oil: Add ten drops each of the essential oils lavender, Roman chamomile, neroli, rosemary and carrot seed to two ounces of a carrier oil such as almond, olive or sesame. (Carrier oils are available in most health food stores.) Apply the oil once a day after your bath or shower, while your skin is still slightly damp, says Edwards.

To make dry hair silky and manageable, add six drops each of lavender, bay and sandalwood essential oils to six ounces of warm sesame or soy oil, suggests Greenwich, Connecticut, aromatherapist Judith Jackson, author of Scentual Touch: A Personal Guide to Aromatherapy. (soy oil is also available in most health food stores.) To apply the oil, says Jackson, part your hair into one-inch sections and apply the mixture to the scalp with a wad of cotton. Wrap your head in a towel and let the oils penetrate for about 15 minutes, then shampoo twice, she says.

For information on preparing and administering essential oils, including cautions about their use, see page 19. For information on purchasing essential oils, refer to the resource list on page 633.

Food Therapy

“Eat fish at least twice a week,” suggests registered pharmacist Earl Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D., professor of nutrition at Pacific Western University in Los Angeles and author of Earl Mindell’s Food as Medicine and other books on nutrition. The oil in salmon, herring and other cold water fish is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which help replenish lost moisture in dry skin and hair, according to Dr. Mindell.

Up to two tablespoons of flaxseed oil a day can also help replenish hair and skin oils, says Julian Whitaker, M.D., founder and president of the Whitaker Wellness Center in Newport Beach, California. It has a nutty-buttery taste, so you can use it as a topping on popcorn, potatoes or other foods you might otherwise flavor with butter, he says. Flaxseed oil is available in most health food stores.

Reflexology

To deal with dry skin, pay special attention to the thyroid and adrenal gland reflexes on your hands or feet, says St. Petersburg, Florida, reflexologist Dwight Byers, author of Better Health with Foot Reflexology.

To help you locate these points, consult the hand and foot reflex charts beginning on page 582. For instructions on how to work the points, see “Your Reflexology Session” on page 110.

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