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The Doctors Book of Home Remedies for Women: Oily Hair

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Oily Hair

Oily Hair

Shine without Grease

You start out every morning with clean, shiny hair. But by bedtime, your hair looks greasy, lame and lank.

The problem?

"An overproduction of oil," says Patricia Farris Walters, M.D., clinical assistant professor of dermatology at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Dermatology. In other words, the sebaceous (oil-producing) glands that are attached to the hair follicles pump out so much goop that the cells along each shaft are slickly coated. Since hormones control the production of oil in your scalp, there is really no way to change the amount of oil produced.

SECRET WEAPONS AGAINST OIL

Here's what women doctors advise to combat oily hair.

Shampoo frequently. Wash your hair more often, and make sure that you get it clean when you do. With oily hair, wash once, then rinse and wash again. Leave the shampoo on for several minutes to give the detergent time to remove the dirt and oils, says Dr. Walters.

Try a dandruff shampoo. "Most people with oily hair also have dandruff, since the same hormones can stimulate both conditions," says Dr. Walters. Shampoo your hair with a dandruff shampoo that contains coal tar derivatives, even if you don't have dandruff. Dandruff shampoos tend to dry out even the oiliest hair.

As an added bonus, coal tar has a natural conditioning effect, which adds softness and shine without adding the oils contained in man-made conditioning products. This eliminates the need for adding any conditioners to detangle or add shine, says Wendy Resin, hair-care manager at the Neutrogena Corporation in Los Angeles. Neutrogena T/Gel shampoo contains coal tar and can be purchased at drugstores.

Cut down on conditioners. Most conditioners and styling products tend to contain oils and other ingredients like emollients and resins that can weigh the hair down--the last thing that you need if your hair is oily, says Yohini Appa, Ph.D., director of product efficacy at Neutrogena.

Alternate with a clarifying shampoo. Every other shampoo, use a shampoo that's high in cleaning agents such as sodium lauryl sulfate and low in any kind of conditioners such as lanolin, says Dr. Walters. These clarifying shampoos, as the cosmetics industry sometimes calls them, actually strip oil from the scalp as well as the hair shaft, says Resin. She suggests Neutrogena's Anti-Residue Shampoo.

You might also want to try Pantene's Pro-Vitamin Clarifying Shampoo.

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