Oily hair is one of the greatest obstacles between you and your hair goals. It can affect your entire look, and even if your hair is freshly washed, it may end up looking droopy and greasy. Apart from looking unappealing, oily hair feels uncomfortable too. Additionally, it gets worse if not treated on time. Read on to know more about the causes of oily hair and some tips to prevent this hair problem.

What causes oily hair?
Oily hair, as the name suggests, refers to excess oil in your hair. This issue can occur for one or both of the following reasons — poor hair care or problems with your scalp. It is essential to understand hair growth to learn why the problem of oily hair occurs. A sebaceous gland is present in every pore of your skin, including the scalp. These glands produce and secrete sebum, which is an oily substance responsible for giving your hair its natural shine. Sebum ensures that your hair remains healthy and smooth. It also helps prevent dryness and breakage. However, in some instances, these glands produce more oil than required, thus leading to oily hair.

Increase in oil production can be due to hereditary reasons or hormonal changes like pregnancy or puberty. It can be seasonal or could depend on lifestyle choices. Factors like improper diet or medicines can also contribute to the amount of oil in your hair.

Tips to prevent oily hair

• Fortunately, you can manage the problem of oily hair by yourself. It is possible to prevent oily hair by keeping your hands off it. You also need to keep a check on hair brushing. Both of these activities spread excess oil throughout the strands of hair.
• Washing or scrubbing your hair too much while shampooing can irritate the scalp, leading to more oil production. Additionally, you should refrain from washing your hair multiple times in a day. When you wash your hair too often, it may lead to the loss of natural oils from the scalp. To compensate for this loss, the sebaceous glands overproduce oil.
• Rinsing your hair for approximately 30 seconds is vital to ensure that all types of hair products like shampoos and conditioners are washed out from your hair. While hot water showers can stimulate the sebaceous glands, cold water assists in shutting them down. Cold water closes the cuticle, which reduces the chances of damage to your hair.
• Using too many products can lead to a build-up in your scalp, ultimately leading to oily hair. While there’s no need to avoid hair styling products entirely in the case of oily hair, you do need to be aware of what and how much product to use.
• Allow your hair to dry by air, or reduce the amount of heat you use on your hair as much as possible. Just like hot water, hot air can cause your scalp to produce oil at a faster rate.