Interesting observation with emu oil + scalp relaxer

Quick rundown:

I started brushing my scalp about a year ago. When I first started I used a brush with medium stifffness, and I could barely use any pressure without causing extreme pain. After a couple weeks it got better, but remained painful for a couple of months.

Since then my scalp has calmed down alot, but still has pins and needle sensations, and whemn I brush with a new, much stiffer brush, i can't use much pressure without a good bit of pain...

Well for the past week, I have been using emu oil infused with saw palmetto oil on my scalp, and for two hours a day wear an invention of mine on my head that completely loosens the scalp.

Well yesterday I noticed that my scalp inflammation is basically completely gone now, as evidenced by the fact that i can brush my scalp as hard as I can with the stiff brush, with ansolutely no pain at all...None, just a pleasant sensation...

I'm not sure how much can be contributed to the oul or the scalp loosening device,, but my scalp is much, muich healthier now...

I never knew if I had inflammation or not, but the "pins and needles" reference makes me think I might. It only hurts where I'm losing my hair. Is that normal?

SlowMoe: Would you share what you use as a scalp loosening device? People have mentioned blood pressure cuffs as an option, but I wasn't sure if it would be big enough to fasten around the head.

Personally, I do HEAD-stands two feet away from the wall using my feet on the wall for balance, it creates an angle that gently pulls my whole scalp forward (or back, depending on which way I am facing), and sometimes I slowly twist my head back and forth against the carpet and I can feel my whole scalp and the muscles on the sides and back loosening. Last year my scalp wouldn't move at all, and now I can move every section almost an inch back and forth. Amazingly, my scalp still gets tight if I don't do these exercises regularly, but it never gets as tight as it used to be.

I think an extremely loose scalp is needed before any healing can begin, and if you achieve that for two hours a day I bet that is what is ridding you of inflammation.

Serge wrote:SlowMoe: Would you share what you use as a scalp loosening device? People have mentioned blood pressure cuffs as an option, but I wasn't sure if it would be big enough to fasten around the head.

Personally, I do HEAD-stands two feet away from the wall using my feet on the wall for balance, it creates an angle that gently pulls my whole scalp forward (or back, depending on which way I am facing), and sometimes I slowly twist my head back and forth against the carpet and I can feel my whole scalp and the muscles on the sides and back loosening. Last year my scalp wouldn't move at all, and now I can move every section almost an inch back and forth. Amazingly, my scalp still gets tight if I don't do these exercises regularly, but it never gets as tight as it used to be.

I think an extremely loose scalp is needed before any healing can begin, and if you achieve that for two hours a day I bet that is what is ridding you of inflammation.

It's a ratcheting device I invented that goes around the scalp, then ratchets down to "grab" the scalp and bunch it up on the top of the head...I've done a lot of experimenting with tensions, shapes roe the contact points and adhesives on the contact patches to the point where it's not at all uncomfortable to wear for a long period of time, even hours; I'm making an appointment tomorrow to get transcutaneous oxygen measurements before and after application......the first few prototypes were uncomfortable after a while leading me to believe that they may have been doing more harm than good by cutting off blood, I just want to get the oxygen measurements to be sure that the design works..

hey Slowmoe,

that is freakin awesome man! keep us updated on your device.

i had a question for you. did you notice when you started doing the blood flow things you do that you had excess sebum being released? i've been doing tom hagerty's scalp exercieses and my sebum in my hair has been literally insane. ive been doing his exercises for 2 months now, and i do them A LOT. i've done them way more in the past 2 days, like literally all day i am flexing the muscles almost, it is kinda crazy, but the sebum has been even more extreme in the last 2 days. like i go two days without shampooing, and it looks like i havent washed my hair in literally 2 weeks and i'm a huge greasefest. it looks healthy, but i'm wondering what is happening. i'm pretty sure this is good because my hair quality is better.

here's what tom hagerty had to say when i emailed him:

When you do the scalp exercise correctly and often, the sebaceous glands attached to each hair follicle will be squeezed a bit. This will release some sebum (grease) onto the scalp. This is OK – nothing to worry about. My suggestion is not to shampoo too often. I think twice a week is enough. Sometimes over shampooing is irritating to the hair follicles. Use gentle shampoos, not those with lots of harsh ingredients.

this is just my personal thoughts about it, i'm not sure if it has any merit because i am just thinking from logic. maybe some other guys can chime in.

i'm wondering if this excess sebum has actually been on my hair follicles the entire time i've had hair loss. and when i am doing this increased blood flow, it is pushing the excess sebum out. and maybe after doing this for a few weeks, all the excess sebum will be released and then i will just be left with a normal, non balding amount of sebum? like this is only temperary until all the excess sebum is squeezed out completely, and then providing room for new hair to grow? any merit to that you think?

Hi SlowMoe,

Any chance you could post a photo of your scalp loosening device?

I think many of us are extremely interested in something that could take over the manual labor in scalp loosening.

Thanks.

I've got a couple....the ratcheting one is too expensive, I am working on an elastic one now.... It's basically an adjustable elastic band that has a special non-slip coating so it doesnt have to be tight in order to hold your scalp "up"

The materials are $21 but i was hoping I could get some bulk material, make a bunch and sell'em for like $25

Similar to this, but this one can be concealed beneath a hat;
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Scalp+Tension+Relaxer
http://www.takeda-medex.com/video.wmv