by Athena Garner

Created on: February 11, 2009   Last Updated: February 16, 2009

Scalp massage has many benefits for both your body and your emotional health. The physical touch involved in massaging your scalp encourages healthier hair and scalp skin. Not only does the massage relax the muscles in your head and face, it extends these benefits down to the neck. It can prevent flaking and dandruff through stimulation of natural oils. You can easily perform this massage on yourself or ask your hair stylist or significant other to spend a few minutes massaging your scalp. You will quickly begin to feel the benefits.

Scalp massage is beneficial because it stimulates blood flow. This leads to healthier hair and less hair loss. Just like any type of massage, it calms and helps relieve stress. By cutting down on stress, you can avoid headaches and other stress-related ailments. By moving your fingertips over your scalp, you distribute your natural oils leading to more lustrous hair and healthier scalp skin. Perhaps most importantly, scalp massage calms you by helping to stimulate the 70% of your nervous system that resides in your head. These stimulating effects can even reach the neural pathways in your brain, helping to calm your mind as well as your body.

The best way to massage your scalp is to use your fingertips and start at the hairline at the top of your forehead. Massage this area first and then, making small circles with your fingertips, move along the hairline around the sides toward the back of your head. Focus on the area behind the ears and around the temples, as these areas tend to hold the most tension. This is also something you can do in the shower while shampooing your hair. Another option to use instead of, or along with this method is to take small sections of hair and gently pull from the scalp to the end of each section. This will relax your whole body and lower your blood pressure. The hair pulling massage releases endorphins, which naturally reduce pain in your body caused by aches or tension.

By massaging your own scalp while shampooing or before bed, you can improve your emotional and physical well-being in only 5 or 10 minutes a day. You can also trade scalp massages with your significant other in order to bond and help each other relax. Remember never to use your fingernails on the scalp as this can lead to bacteria transfer and damage to hair follicles. There are pressure points on the head that may be easier to reach on another person, but you can also stimulate on yourself. Using your thumbs, press lightly at the base of the head. Move your thumbs upward, along the center of the head toward the crown. Next, place each thumb about an inch away from the center at the base of the head and move slowly up toward the crown. This will help stimulate bodily calm and emotional balance.

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