As one who has suffered for years from a tender scalp, I can
tell you that I have come to a place in my hair journey where I have controlled
it. If I am not careful, I will aggravate my scalp so I have to pay special
attention to what I do and make sure that I do not return back to that painful
journey.
The tips I am sharing are experiential and unique to my
experiences. There is no one sure and fast solution as we are all have
different triggers, but I wanted to share with you the steps I took to leave the
tender headed journey behind.
1. Stopped using heat for about six months. This
gave my scalp a break and since my hair air dried quickly, it also gave my hair
a break from the heat.
2. In the most painful areas, place a cold pack
covered with a cloth so you won’t have direct contact to the coldness of the
ice pack. This will help to stop the soreness and pain on contact. Leave for
only a few seconds and apply when needed.
3. Stop wearing braids. The constant pulling and
tugging contributed to an already tender scalp. Instead, I opted to twist my
hair for a year until my scalp healed. This also included not adding extensions
as my head could not bear the weight of the extra hair.
4. Eliminated products that itched. For this one it
took a little bit of leg work. I had to read the ingredients and journal which
products where I got the most negative reaction. In my case, products that were
high in salt and wheat had to be removed.
5. Stopped using the ACV rinse. Even though water
reduced the acidity level, it still aggravated my scalp and left my hair
feeling brittle.
6. Tested the pH of the water and used bottled
water. This was temporary as I moved to a city where the water is less
alkaline. The higher the alkalinity, the drier your hair and scalp.
7. Wash with warm and rinse with cool water. For
many of us we think this is a no brain-er but you will be surprised how we are
conditioned to turn up the temperature on the water because it can feel so
relaxing. Remember, hot water strips.
8. Applied daily an ointment DON’T-B-BALD M.E.D. instead of grease or hair dress on the scalp.
If the ingredients contained a greater combination of oils and less of
petrolatum, I used it.
9. Included a bentonite clay mask Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay Deep Pore Cleansing to
pull out any toxins and residual relaxer. Our hair carries a print of all that
we do to it and what a shampoo and condition couldn’t do, I used the clay mask.
It felt wonderful and cooling to the scalp.
10.
Used the Neutrogena T-Gel Shampoo. The main ingredient coal was awesome and gave
me quicker recovery. I wish I used this earlier in my return back to natural.
Again, this is not a sure formula but I hope these tips
help. When in doubt, always consult a doctor.
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