Scalp Hair Tips Part 2: The link between scalp health and hair health

The skin on your scalp ages faster than any other skin on your body

Did you know that your scalp ages six times faster than your facial skin, and 12 times faster than your body skin? In fact, your scalp is the fastest aging skin on your body. And, while aging is a completely natural and inevitable process, caring for your scalp in the right way, can slow down the aging process and be hugely beneficial to your hair’s health and longevity. We should all be taking much better care of our scalp, keeping it as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

Why does your scalp age faster?

The dermis layer of the scalp has connective tissue, and changes in this tissue over time reduce the skin's strength and elasticity. As we age, the scalp skin becomes increasingly thinner — this is known as elastosis. The dermis also has many blood vessels, oil and sweat glands, nerves, hair follicles, and other structures. The number of blood vessels in the dermis begin to decrease and become more fragile as we age.

How does scalp aging affect your hair?

Unfortunately, scalp aging can adversely affect your hair in many ways …

1. Hair growth — The average speed of hair growth on a young scalp is about 1.25 cm per month. However, on an aging scalp, hair growth may decrease by as much as 80% and grow as little as 0.25 cm per month.
2. Hair quality — Sebaceous glands produce less oil as you age. Women gradually produce less oil from menopause onwards. This can make it harder to keep your skin moist, resulting in dryness and itchiness. Decreased levels of oil production impact your hair's natural oil distribution and can play a role in dryness, and brittle feeling through the lengths of your hair. Men also experience a small decrease, usually after the age of 80.
3. Visible signs — Brittle hair, dandruff, an irritated and itchy scalp and increased general sensitivity.

What other factors might play a role? 

Scalp aging is a natural part of life, but can also be caused by circumstances such as sun exposure, genetics, nutritional issues, decreasing levels of collagen, poor blood circulation, kidney or liver problems, and vitamin deficiencies.

How can you keep your scalp healthy?

1. Use the right products — Most products available today are designed to make your hair look good, but many contain ingredients that are harmful to your scalp or hair and may have long-term, negative effects. They can alter your scalp’s natural state and create an unhealthy environment for hair growth. You should only use natural products with quality ingredients. 
2. Wash regularly — You need to wash your scalp daily or every other day in the correct way with natural products specifically formulated for optimal scalp health. If you don’t care for your scalp properly, you risk clogging or damaging your hair follicles and throwing off your scalp’s PH balance. This can lead to irritation, inflammation, and ultimately hair thinning.  
3. Practice prevention — The earlier you start with an effective scalp care routine, the better.

What’s the best scalp care routine?

Every scalp and each head of hair is unique, so you need to find the right products and routine for you. At Harklinikken, we tailor our treatments to your exact hair and scalp needs. We create customized treatment regimens for each of our clients to optimize conditions for their scalp and hair follicles to be healthy. 

Our award-winning, naturally-derived Hair Gain Extract and collection of supporting products are designed to work in synergy to promote scalp health and unleash your hair’s full potential. 

We have over 100 000 clients globally and we often hear that after starting their hair journey with our treatment regimen and expert advice, they experience hair quality that’s even better than it was 20 years earlier! 

To find out how to improve the health of your scalp and hair, take our free, online Hair Assessment. It only takes a few minutes.