While humans have evolved and become more sophisticated over the thousands and thousands of years, one thing we still have in common with our mammalian counterparts is the production of sebum - an oil secreted all over our bodies. In the animal kingdom, sebum helps to waterproof the skin and coat of mammals, helping to protect them from the elements. Humans, obviously, don’t necessarily need this feature, making sebum production more of a nuisance than anything.

Sebum is secreted by sebaceous glands, which we have all over our bodies. While sebum helps to keep our hair and skin hydrated, when it is produced in excess it can cause a number of problems. On our face, back, and chest it can cause acne breakouts; On our scalp, it can cause, at best, oily hair. At worst, it can cause inflammation of the hair follicles which can ultimately lead to hair loss and can help yeast thrive, resulting in dandruff.

How Does Excess Sebum Cause Hair Loss?

Excess sebum is closely related to hair loss. Not only is sebum the reason for greasy and oily hair, but if not controlled, can interfere with the hair growth cycle and cause sebum hair loss - a specific type of hair loss that is directly related to clogged pores on the scalp.

Your scalp is covered by hair follicles - tubular “pores” from which your hair grows. Underneath the skin beside these follicles are sebaceous glands. It is normal for sebum to be produced which then lubricates the strand of hair, helping to keep it healthy. However, if you produce too much sebum, the follicle can become blocked with grease which can lead to an infection and inflammation. This stunts hair growth by interrupting the growth cycle.

How To Reduce Sebum Production On Scalp

Thankfully, if you naturally produce a lot of sebum, there are ways to get this under control. Those who produce excess sebum should wash their hair every day to help get rid of excess sebum. However, be careful not to use harsh shampoos. Shampoos full of alcohol and unnatural ingredients can be incredibly drying, giving you an entirely new problem. This can overdry your scalp and cause it to kick sebum production into overdrive.

Use a gentle, natural shampoo with nourishing oils and natural botanicals to cleanse and calm your scalp while delivering healthy moisture. Our hair growth shampoo tackles the problem of excess sebum hair loss while also helping combat other reasons for hair loss, such as high levels of DHT (a chemical in our bodies that triggers hair loss). Our natural shampoo is gentle enough to use every day, and in fact, using it every day will produce the best hair growth results. When you wash your hair, be sure to take some time to massage your scalp. This helps to move the glands around and helps them to become unblocked. Also, be sure to shower with warm water - not hot. Hot water only increases sebum production even more.

Overproduction of sebum might be tied to issues with unhealthy diets, certain medications, genetics, hormonal imbalances, or vitamin deficiencies. Be sure you are doing your part to get these under control in addition to using a hair growth shampoo that is gentle enough to use daily.

The Key To Reducing Sebum Is Using The Right Products

While harsh hair products may feel as if they are cleaning your hair, it is important to remember drying out your scalp with shampoos full of alcohol and chemicals isn't the way to reduce sebum production. Our natural, paraben-free shampoo for hair loss is carefully formulated to be gentle, nourishing, and cleansing at the same time - as well as having clinically proven active ingredients to encourage hair growth and decrease hair loss. Shop all of our hair growth products today!