NY Times Surgeon General Article on Hair & Exercise

**CherrySilver** · August 27th, 2011, 06:31 PM

This article appeared the other day in the NY Times the other day regarding the issue of putting our hair over our health. I read it with great interest because it occurred to me that it may apply to members of our community as well.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/0...487C71FEB44EFF

Although the article was originally written about concerns of women color with ruining salon styled hair, the larger question looms as she so eloquently puts it:

“Oftentimes you get women saying, ‘I can’t exercise today because I don’t want to sweat my hair back or get my hair wet,’ ” she said in an interview. “When you’re starting to exercise, you look for reasons not to, and sometimes the hair is one of those reasons.”

Okay ladies (and gents), let’s be honest, how many of us have given up or curtailed exercise or other activities because we’re afraid we’re going to “sweat, damage or otherwise mess up” our hair?

**islandboo** · August 27th, 2011, 06:33 PM

LOL, I have many excuses for not exercising like I should but my hair has never been one of them.

**NouvelleNymphe2** · August 27th, 2011, 06:50 PM

i agree with islandboo. i also know that exercise stimulates growth, so that would actually encourage me to work out.

**Yozhik** · August 27th, 2011, 06:58 PM

Great article! Thanks for linking to it.

I found it quite informative, and, for myself at least, true.

I've been wanting to get into better shape for the last two years, but I also started growing out my hair two years ago, and it's a real pain now that my hair is longer to get it all sweaty (especially when I stretch my washes from 1-2 times a week). I know of course I could do it, or do a WO rinse, but unless I use some cleansing agent on my scalp, it doesn't really feel clean to me.

I appreciate the wake-up call, though, and I will be more aware now that I'm using my hair as an excuse when it shouldn't be -- after all, better health means healthier hair growing out of your head in the long term.

**CurlyCap** · August 27th, 2011, 07:00 PM

LOL.

I love when my hair gets all sweaty. It's like Infusium 23 on steriods. My curls look AMAZING.

The problem? I stink. Stinky stinky stink.

Ah well.

**CherrySilver** · August 27th, 2011, 07:23 PM

Originally Posted by Yozhik

I appreciate the wake-up call, though, and I will be more aware now that I'm using my hair as an excuse when it shouldn't be -- after all, better health means healthier hair growing out of your head in the long term.

I know, there was a point in my life, too, where I didn't exercise as much because I was afraid of washing my hair too often. I thought about it as I experienced one of those "traumatic birthdays" when it becomes even more imperative that we do something to preserve our health. What was it going to be: the health or the hair. Sorry hair, you lost. I had really given up or curtailed some activities and thought it was pretty stupid and superficial to be so worried about my hair. Guess what? It's in my sig....

**virgo75** · August 27th, 2011, 07:36 PM

Originally Posted by islandboo

LOL, I have many excuses for not exercising like I should but my hair has never been one of them.

2nd this.

Originally Posted by NouvelleNymphe2

i agree with islandboo. i also know that exercise stimulates growth, so that would actually encourage me to work out.

And this.

I wash my hair daily so having to wash it after exercise isn't an issue. The 2 factors that keep me making excuses are 1)time- I am a routine person and have yet to find a time slot that works for me daily. 2)laziness.

**Charybdis** · August 28th, 2011, 01:31 AM

Originally Posted by CurlyCap

I love when my hair gets all sweaty. It's like Infusium 23 on steroids. My curls look AMAZING.

This! I'm more wurly than curly, but the salt and moisture of sweat definitely emphasizes the curl.

I do have to make sure my scalp dries thoroughly afterwards, though, or my seborrheic dermatitis will flare. No putting up sweaty hair for me! Alternatively, a WO rinse gets the sweat out if it's not wash day or my scalp is itchy.

Sweat really and truly isn't dirty. (The sweat glands on your head are eccrine glands, and the sweat they produce doesn't smell and isn't very interesting to the bacteria that live on your skin. You also have apocrine sweat glands around your armpits and genitals, and the sweat they produce is more tasty to bacteria, which is why body odor tends to be concentrated in those areas.) If your scalp smells when you sweat, what you're smelling is the byproducts from bacterial breakdown of sebum, which are more noticeable when your scalp is damp. This effect is definitely much worse if you are having a seborrheic dermatitis flare -- the only times I've ever noticed a smell from my scalp has been when I've had a bad SD flare.

What I thought was interesting about the original article is that it provides yet another reason why heat straightening and chemical relaxers aren't a good idea. Preach it, Regina!

**AnqeIicDemise** · August 28th, 2011, 01:33 AM

I find other excuses to avoid the gym. My hair is never one of them.

- I left my clothes at home
- My ____ hurts
- I'm tired
- I haven't seen the DH in a while..

Yup. Those are my excuses. Never my hair.