Another question about brushing.

Hey guys.

So after brushing one day, the next day my scalp will be a little sore. I have been brushing regardless of the soreness but I have been feeling a little apprenhensive about that maybe causing more harm than good (not enough healing time, etc.)

Thoughts on this?

I'm not a brusher, so you are probably going to want to wait for someone experienced with this to reply.

But my two cents is that with anything where we are causing intentional damage to our tissues (strength training, tanning, laser therapy, dermabrasion, etc.), the key lies in the recovery. The idea of hormesis is that the adaptive response to the damage is what we are after, and that only happens when we let the tissues recover.

In light of that, I'd have to think that brushing is no different. Any sign of soreness or irritation is a sign of inflammation, so I think it would actually be a bad idea to brush (especially vigorously) when the scalp is already sore. Give it a break and allow the healing to take place. That or scale back the intensity of your brushing so that you can do it every day without the soreness.