A Complete Guide On How To Exfoliate The Scalp
The short answer is that you should exfoliate your scalp because your scalp is skin, and regular exfoliation is beneficial for the skin. The long answer is that your scalp collects a variety of debris ranging from natural oils, dirt, particulate matter, dead skin cells, and styling or care products. And because most of us also have hair on our heads, all that stuff gets trapped easier, as it’s wedged between strands and not as able to slough off on its own. This all leads to buildup.
Too much of it can lead to scalp inflammation, resulting in flakes, itching, sometimes even tenderness or pain. “When you have product, dirt, and oil building up around your follicle opening—which is where your hair grows out of—buildup around that starts to slowly suffocate your hair root, and it causes inflammation,” trained trichologist and hairstylist Shab Reslan once told us about the condition.
Even worse, this can lead to hair loss overtime. Take it from Adarsh Vijay Mudgil, M.D., board-certified dermatologist and founder of Mudgil Dermatology: “If buildup is really extreme, it can even pull the hair down because there’s so much inflammation around the hair follicle,” he previously told us. That’s why many experts tout scalp-stimulating treatments for speedier hair growth—a clean, happy scalp leads to full, lush strands.
