Mildly Interesting

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Man shows the health of his hair and scalp after not using any shampoo for 7 years (www.youtube.com)

submitted 3 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/mildlyinteresting

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In summary: He stopped washing his hair with any products and started using just cold water, in an effort to help with his dandruff problem. Overall seems to have worked for him. Seemed mildly interesting to me.

Not actually NSFW, but I tagged it because the thumbnail is a close-up of some pretty severe dandruff, and there's a few seconds of video in the middle where he shows the condition of his scalp before quitting shampoo. Just thought I'd mention, in case that makes you squeamish.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (11 children)

I'm not a doctor, but something just hit me.

We use soap when washing to remove debris and microbes from our skin, largely to prevent infection and illness.

Presumably, the same idea is applied to hair. However, a single strand of hair has an absolute crap load of nooks and crannies for microbes to live in.

Sebum, the waxy substance that makes our hair and skin "oily" is a defense mechanism against microbes by creating a sealed surface (though some types break it down and create odors). Soaps denaturize this substance, and then rinsing it off removes this protection.

This sort of says to me that this guy also highlighted a question of mine I've wondered. Without a specific need to disinfect hair, or remove the built up odor, why the fuck would we want to destroy that wax we evolved to protect our hair?

[–] pigup 0 points 3 weeks ago (8 children)

That's how it works. There's another layer to it though. We have symbiotic relationships with microbes and bacteria that live on our skin and in our pores. They swim around in the oil and they eat our dead skin and they manage all the stuff on our skin. When a foreign pathogen or microbe shows up not only do they have to make their way through all the protective oily waxing stuff but they also have to fight our little army on our skin before it ever even gets to us. By using soap you're killing everyone on your skin and removing everything leaving your bare skin with zero defense. We evolved to have the oils and the bugs on our skin and it's a great system. I'm pretty sure soap salesman just started making up lies in the Victorian era and beyond and everyone believed it an internalized it.

[–] DesertDwellingWeirdo 1 points 3 weeks ago

You are correct about how our skin has these natural defenses that are much more sophisticated than most people are aware of, but semi-regular hygiene is still important to clear off the debris left behind by this ecosystem, as has been known for some thousands of years. Once every couple days to a week is ideal for most people depending on factors such as humidity and personal biology.

Exposure to "everyday contagions" can greatly strengthen the immune system without making us sick as well, but not always, and the behavior of primates and young children eating their little green nose warriors is actually believed to have evolved for this benefit. Exposure has become more of an issue as civilization has grown in size though, and contagious diseases are being spread simultaneously from multiple points in the global population with more opportunities to find their way into that circle.

If you have a lifestyle that involves regular contact with other people, you may want to be washing your hands frequently.

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