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Can Stress Cause Oily Hair? [Facts + Solutions]

Lately, you hear about stress everywhere. However, did you know that stress can cause oily hair?

The truth is that our body is controlled by our nervious system so is quite related.

Stress can cause oily hair because the sebaceous gland that controls the production of oils on the scalp can be affected by this stress. Small changes in the stimuli can alter the normal production and the result is producing more oils than your skin and hair need.

That is why in this article, I will tell you in which ways stress can affect your hair.

Can stress cause oily hair apparience?

The answer is yes, stress can cause your hair to become very oily.

Dirty or greasy-looking hair is very common.

What makes stress and oils related is that what controls how much oil is produced is called the sebaceous gland.

That is why if your hair is greasy, you should try to control the stress so your scalp doesn’t produce more oils.

Interestingly, because is a gland, it is regulated by our nervous system.

I have realized that emotions are more powerful than they seem.

That’s why when you get overly stressed you can feel your hair become more oily.

In what ways can stress cause oily hair?

Stress is a natural dysregulation as it causes the glands and cells in the body to become out of control or out of balance.

The body is full of cells, glands and other type of cells that are stimulated by the nervous system.

That is why it is so powerful how we feel because it has a direct consequence on the cells in our body.

The stress we feel from work, homework or bills can influence how our system reacts by sending certain signals.

Oxidative stress is one of the most common causes of degenerative diseases. It can also occur due to emotional stress, which can cause stress on the cells.

How this stress can cause oily hair are:

Affecting the sebaceous gland.
Affecting other glands which as a side effect can affects the hair too.
Cause seborrhea

With these subjects you can know a little more in-depth about how it makes your hair oilier.

#1 stress Affects the sebaceous gland

The most common way that stress can cause oily hair is when the gland that is in charge of producing sebum in the head is disturbed.

We all have a gland in our head that produces natural oils called sebum.

This sebum contains amino acids, sugars and other elements that are necessary for our scalp.

That is why this gland is located internally in the skin of the head and is affected by internal functions. It is important to know that everything is controlled by stimuli coming from the brain.

These stimuli can be modified if something goes wrong.

For example, stress can directly affect this because the glands are controlled by these stimuli.

Stress is one thing that releases toxins and causes processes within the body to go out of control.

In fact, this emotional stress can cause the cells themselves to become stressed by collapsing or multiplying.

The same happens with the gland that regulates this production in the hair. If it is affected it starts to get out of control. With this, it can start producing oils out of control.

Solution #1

The positive thing about this is that although it is a dysregulation that we can’t control, we can control what we do to calm it down.

This is through correct grooming habits and products to avoid other problems.

The best solution for this is to wash your hair with a shampoo like Kerastase Divalent.

Is a very powerful cleansing shampoo that helps to regulate this gland and to clean the hair and the residues. This is my professional recommendation.

#2 stress can Affect other glands that can affect the hair

Other ways in which stress can cause oily hair is when some conditions that are related to gland dysregulation got affected by the stress such as the thyroid.

Low or high thyroid translates into many complications in weight and also with hair loss.

Stress can drastically influence this type of condition, causing the oil on the scalp goes out of control.

As you may recall, the scalp relies on the sebaceous gland to produce sebum, which is loaded with oils.

When this gland receives the signal to increase that production because of the stress chaos on the glands the result will be an oily and greasy appearance in your hair.

SOLUTION #2

In this case, the best thing to do is to treat what is happening to your hair while you go for a consultation with your doctor.

Since these are diseases it is a little more complicated.

However, you can take some comfort in eliminating the appearance in your hair.

The truth is that although the causes are different, the result is that your hair feels and looks more oily.

This means that to fix it you need to clean it well and keep it clean. So the solutions are quite similar.

Use Bain Divalent Shampoo from Kerastase regularly (2 times a week)

Remember to treat the problem in depth.

That is why my professional recommendation is that you also tell all of this to your trusted doctor.

In that way you will be able to solve the problem in short and long term.

#3 Causing seborrhea

Seborrhea is a skin condition that causes the skin to become inflamed and itchy and creates flakes on the skin in areas where there is oil production such as the head.

As it occurs in the areas where the skin’s natural oil is produced it is too closely related to the sebaceous gland that I told you about above.

So that is why stress can also cause this problem. This is because it just alters glands and other nerve terminals by the stimuli it sends.

It is very interesting to see how our emotions and moods can influence things that happen to us.
Seboreah is just an inflammation and stress causes inflammation almost in most cases.

Then a kind of yeast is produced which causes these sensations and itching.
Eliminating this yeast eliminates these sensations.

Solution #3

Regularly applying a cleansing shampoo such as Kerastase divalent shampoo normally controls it. However, this is not always the case as inflammation must be controlled.

I recommend that you see a dermatologist for a check-up. He/She will probably prescribe you something special like topical corticosteroids to get rid of the inflammation.

Consult your doctor about this.

READ MORE >> Does oily hair cause dandruff?

Summary

Now you know the main ways stress can cause oily hair and best of all you know how to fix it.

As you saw there are many things that can happen just as a side effect to how we feel.

That’s why you have to try to balance the stress in your life with a good organization and leveling of daily tasks.

The truth is that greasy hair is bad for your scalp, and that’s why you should keep the oiliness under control.

Sometimes this may seem silly to hear but you see how it can affect you in more ways than one.

When a problem like this appears is better to to solve it quickly because if you don’t, it can get complicated.

That’s why I make these articles to help you recognice them at as soon as possible. Then you can have the professional solutions that do work too.

Your responsibility is is to put them in action and be consistent to make them work.

I hope you can put them into practice as soon as possible and have the best results.

Until next time.