The More Often You Wash Your Hair, the Faster It Becomes Oily?

How often do you wash your hair? Some people wash once a day, some wash every 3 days, and some even wash once a week. How many days is it correct? Because scalp oil is mainly a secretion of the sebaceous glands, if the sebaceous glands secrete vigorously, scalp oil will naturally be more severe. However, some people have a natural tendency to produce oil on their scalp, while others have excessive secretion of hair oil due to incorrect hair washing methods. Wash your hair too often and it seems to get oilier faster. But why does this happen? Let's take a deeper look at the science behind this process.

Under What Circumstances Will the Amount of Scalp Oil Increase?

1. Hormonal changes

Generally, people with high levels of androgen tend to have strong secretion of sebaceous glands. In severe cases, they may become too oily to look after just the first half of washing, and washing them once a day is not enough. However, this may lead to seborrheic hair loss, so be careful. Other factors that cause hormonal fluctuations, such as puberty, pregnancy, or menopause, can all lead to an increase in sebum secretion, but these are inevitable. If you have too much oil, clean it up more.

2. Spicy and greasy diet

People who love to eat spicy and greasy foods should also pay more attention. These foods are very easy to stimulate the sebaceous glands to secrete too much oil, so the scalp will also produce more oil. It's okay to eat some occasionally, but don't eat like this every day. A light diet is also beneficial for the body.

3. Staying up late

Don't stay up late! Staying up late can overload your body, leading to endocrine disorders, increased androgen secretion, and increased scalp oil production. And it will also cause you to lose hair.

4. Environment

Hot and humid environments can stimulate the sebaceous glands to produce more oil.

5. Excessive cleaning

Many children believe that washing their hair every day can ensure that it is always fresh and clean. But in fact, the secretion of oil is used to protect the moisture and health of hair and scalp. Of course, excessive oil can also lead to various problems, such as greasy hair, blocked pores, and dandruff. But frequent shampooing can leave the scalp in an excessively clean state, thereby losing the protection of oil. So the sebaceous glands will secrete more oil to protect our scalp and hair when they notice that the scalp is dry. Then you feel that hair oil is faster and you wash your hair more frequently, which leads to your hair becoming more oily as you wash it.

6. Cold water shampoo

Summer is too hot, and many people choose to wash their hair with cold water due to their greed, feeling it clears the heat and relieves the heat. However, the low temperature of cold water makes it difficult to dissolve grease, which affects the effectiveness of decontamination and descaling. The grease cannot be removed, so it will quickly turn oily after washing the head. Moreover, the weather is hot and the head temperature is also high. If the water temperature used for washing hair is too low, it may cause the scalp blood vessels to contract sharply. It can easily lead to colds, and in some cases, it can also lead to premature aging, shedding, drying, and yellowing of hair. Although high water temperature can clean oil stains, it can stimulate the scalp and accelerate oil secretion. It can also cause hair to become dry, irritable, and prone to hair loss due to heat. Therefore, it is recommended to keep the water temperature between 38 ℃ and 42 ℃. Not only can it promote blood circulation on the scalp, but it can also make the nutritional supply of hair smoother and promote scalp metabolism. In fact, there is no fixed frequency for washing hair. If you feel that your hair oil is dirty, you should wash it. After all, an increase in hair oil production can cause hair to flatten, stick to the scalp, and give people a very messy feeling. People who produce a lot of oil can naturally wash their hair every day. But the amount of oil produced by hair is low, it is best to reduce the frequency of hair washing, 2-3 times a week, or even once a week. Especially for dry hair.

Why Does My Hair Get Oily So Fast?

Natural Oils and the Hair Cycle

Our scalp produces sebum, an oily substance, to keep hair moisturized and protected. Sebum is released from sebaceous glands into hair follicles on a regular cycle. It travels up the hair shaft towards the surface. This natural oil production is important to maintain hair health. However, excess sebum can make hair appear greasy.

How Washing Impacts the Hair Cycle

When we wash hair, we are removing excess sebum from the surface. However, sebum production doesn't stop - the glands keep secreting it internally on their normal cycle. Frequent washing disrupts this cycle. The scalp responds by producing even more sebum to try and replenish protective oils that are being repeatedly stripped away.

Damage to Hair Follicles from Over-Washing

With each wash, especially when using harsh shampoos, we damage hair follicles slightly through stripping of natural oils and physical abrasion.

Damaged follicles send chemical signals to sebaceous glands to produce more sebum as a defense mechanism. This triggers escalated oil production and ultimately greasier hair more quickly compared to undamaged hair.

The Sebum Balancing Effect of Gentle Washing

Occasional scalp cleansing every 2-3 days with a mild shampoo allows sebum levels to remain regulated without harmful buildup or disruption of the follicles' natural cycle. Using a hydrating conditioner after helps restore moisture and balance, preventing scalp signals for excess oil triggering.

How to Stop Greasy Hair?

Lengthen wash intervals, switch to gentler products, dry shampoo on non-wash days, scalp massage, and seeing a dermatologist if issues persist can all help training hair and scalp to produce optimal sebum levels naturally again over time.

The scalp's complex biological cycle causes oiler hair as a protective response to frequent or harsh washing damaging its delicate sebum regulatory mechanisms. Gentler cleansing is key to balanced hydration and sebum control long term.