As a stylist, hot oil treatments

are often requested by clients or used by individuals at home as a way to help “moisturize” the hair and to “resolve dry scalp.” However, these treatments could be the very thing compounding the issue.

Your scalp contains a suderifous (sweat) and sebaceous (oil) gland.  The sweat gland is obviously a way for your body to release heat and cool down.  The oil gland is to lubricate the scalp, help hair flow from the follicle, which in turn gives hair shine.  When you use a foreign product (and by foreign I mean not produced naturally) on your scalp, there is an increased potential for buildup, which can lead to hair loss.

In women, hair grows in a way which allows the oils produced to travel down the hair shaft, which is why you’ll see some people with oily, limp hair. In men, since the…