Joyce Wang, a junior at NITE, turned her hair from white back to its natural black color with a comb! This is an adaptation of Joyce’s 10 page story.
After I lost some weight using the Eat to Live food program, and ate a lot of organic vegetables, I didn’t want to use chemicals to color my hair anymore! I started dying my hair in 2007. At that time, my hair started to show a little white. I didn’t want to color it but was embarrassed to give seminars on health products when I felt I should look younger.
I didn’t know that the more I colored my hair, the more it would turn white and even faster than before. In the beginning, I only needed to color it once in two months. Later, it became once a month, and then, twice a month. At first, one bottle of dye could be used for 3 or 4 times, and then, 2 or 3 times, until only 1 time. My hair roots were snow white on top of my head!
I stopped putting dye on my hair at the end of April 2014 and started combing my hair using a wooden comb. I talk to my mom by computer with a picture once a week. She is 85 years old now. She is in China, and I don’t see her very often. One time when I was visiting with my mom, my 3rd elder sister came to visit my mom, she talked with me, and I saw her hair was all black. I asked her if she colored her hair. She said no, she has never colored her hair, because she doesn’t like chemicals.
But when I had visited China in 2012, her hair was white; in less than 2 years, her hair was almost all black again. She told me she combs her hair 50 times every day. She demonstrated how she combed her hair 50 times in front and 50 times in back. She also used fresh ginger slices to rub on the hair roots, maybe once a month. She did it for a year; she learned this from a Chinese health TV program. She was so happy that she got a full head with natural black hair at age 60! I follow her ways, and maybe, my hair can turn to black also.
Actually, this wasn’t the first time to see someone have a full head of thick and black hair just by combing the hair. About 5 years ago, while attending a wedding, I saw a lady in front of me had thick and black hair wrapped as a bun on the back of her head. I thought, they are colored or fake hairs. After the wedding ceremony, I went to talk to her and commented on her beautiful hair. She was so happy to hear comments, and she untied her hair, I was so shocked, because her hair was so long, it reached her knee!
I asked her if the hair was all her own hair or not, and she said yes. I asked what kind of products she used to grow such abundant and natural hair. She told me she was 60 years old. She said she didn’t used any “special” products, she just combed her hair more. She reached to her purse and took a wooden comb out and then, showed me how to comb her hair. She bent her head forward first, and then, let the hair hang in the air, and then, she started to comb her hair. She combed it about 30 to 40 times, and then, she raised up her head and pulled the hair back to her head, and combed her hair for another 30 – 40 times. I was so surprised to see that she dared to comb her hair so many times without being afraid of losing her hair.
I asked if she was afraid to lose her hair by combing it so many times, and she said no. As a matter of fact, she didn’t lose hair, but her hair grew more and more, thicker and thicker, darker and darker. She was living in New York at the time. She said the photographers in N.Y. took many of photos of her hair, because not many people at age 60 could still own such luscious thick and long natural black hair. She encouraged me to comb my hair, not color it. I came home and tried to comb my hair as she did for a week and then, gave it up, because I saw my hair falling out more whenever I combed my hair that many times. I would rather have my colored hair than less hair or no hair at all.
I have two witnesses in my life, and after I lost some weight, I had the confidence and curiosity to take the adventure and go with this hair experiment on my hair. So, on the day I was supposed to color my hair, I didn’t do it, and let the white roots show. On the 3rd day without touching up my roots, a friend came to visit me. After seeing my hair, she was so shocked. Her eyes were wide open, her mouth dropped, and her face was frozen. I thought she would have a heart attack. After a while, I heard her say: “I have known you for almost 15 years, and I didn’t know you have so much white hair!” In order to save her and other friends who haven’t noticed my white hair from possible shock, I found a square of silk scarf and wrapped my hair. However, this caused another problem: some friends get curious about my wrapped hair; they were wondering what was wrong with my hair. I guess we are used to seeing people who have chemo and lost their hair, so they wrap their heads with scarves or wear hats. I remembered on 5/16/14, I had class at NITE school, and we had Evaluation and Assessment class with Dr. Baker. She asked me why I wore a scarf on my head, she was so concerned about me. I just laughed and explained to her the reasons, and she was curious about it and insisted to see my white hair. I took off my scarf and she saw it. By that time, there was some black hair growing among the white hair, and I was so happy about it. I showed her the wooden comb and explained and gave a demo as how to comb my hair. She was very interested in it. After that, every time I went to school, she had me remove my scarf and see the progress on my hair. She was very impressed with the progress she saw. In September, she asked Darryl at herbs etc to order some wooden combs, and on 9/21/14 for my last class, I checked the store: the wooden combs were sold out! Dr. Baker asked me to write something about combing the hair, why to use wooden combs, and how to comb the hair.
Days I Put Ginger Root Juice On My Hair:
5/13/14 – 3rd time
6/20/14 – 4th time
6/30/14 – 5th time
7/29/14 – 6th time
10/19/14 – 7th time
10/30/14 – 8th time
My hair went from all white at the beginning, and then, turned gray, now, mostly black. Even the few white ones are not snow white any more, but more grayish.
Why should we comb the hair for more than 20 times a day?
When we comb the hair, we stimulate the blood circulation, and blood will flow to the hair root, feed the root, and get rid of the waste, make the hair grow with the natural color and reduce the chance of losing hair. Usually, when we comb our hair, we do it in a hurry, and comb only a few times, maybe less than 10 times for a woman. I know some men will not even comb their hair every day; maybe, this is one of the reasons some men lose their hair!
When we comb our hair more, we make the meridians flow freely, let the chi and blood go through very well, make our head relaxed, our eyes clear, and our ears can hear better. It calms the mind and liver, it can help with the faintness, headache, ear ringing, insomnia, migraine, and depression, etc.
Comb the hair more times; it can stimulate the acupuncture pressure points and the meridians, working similar to acupuncture on the head. It can help relieve the fatigue and tiredness, keep the mind calm or relaxed.
What kind of combs are the good ones?
The quality of the wooden combs can have significant effects on the health of our hair. Choose the combs that have even and complete “teeth,” have the right width between each tooth, the space is not too narrow, and not too wide, just right. The end of the teeth will not be too sharp; otherwise, it will scratch the skin and may cause injury. For long curly hair, choose combs that have wider teeth, so the comb can go through the hair smoothly without tangling the hair.
You want to comb the head, not just the hair!
Method 1: From the back to front. Bend your head forward, let the hair to fall to the front, and start from the back of the head, from the base of the skull. Comb about 50 times on the right side, and then, the left side 50 times, include the middle (the governing meridian). If there is any soreness or pain blockage on the head, comb more and a little bit harder, but not so it hurts. Comb the hair, use even pressure, not hurtful, but feels warm, comfortable.
Method 2: Sideways: part the hair in the middle of the head, comb to each side, left and right, until it feels warm and comfortable on the head.
Method 3: From front to back: pull all of the hair to the back of the head, comb from the front to the back of the head. Start from the middle, the governing meridian, which will help with dizziness headaches, and provide more energy.
The governing, both bladder and both gall bladder meridians, all five run through the head. When we comb the hair, we help all five of these meridians which improves digestion, prevents colds and flu, helps with urinary concerns and restlessness. Clearing these will also help with more energy in the day time and better sound sleep in the night.
Warning: Don’t comb your hair right after a big meal; it will affect your digestion. Because when you comb your hair, the blood will rush to the head, and there will be less blood for digestion. Do not use too much pressure or comb for too long a time, this can all damage your hair. Moderation is key. If you have long or curly hair, when combing the hair, do not forcefully pull or tear the hair, it can break or damage the hair.
Dandruff Treatments If you have the itchy condition of the scalp, the top layer of the skin sheds the dead cells at a faster rate than normal. The old skin is like white flakes in the hair or on the clothes.
Some skin problems are a sign of the body out of balance, not in the best health condition. Too much junk food and vitamin and good fat deficiencies may cause this problem. Staying up too late, insomnia, too much hot or spicy foods, using the wrong kind of shampoo or conditioner will also make dandruff.
At fall and winter, when the weather is getting cold, we will have higher chance of dandruff. When we use the electric hair dryer to dry out hair, the water evaporates faster, we lose too much water, and this may cause the inflammation of the scalp and cause more dandruff on the head. We may dry our hair naturally or use the electric dryer to blow it half dry and then, massage some hair oil or lotion into the scalp. This will prevent the dandruff.
We can also use bitter herbs internally, such as dandelion or gentian to help the detox process. Nettle and burdock can be used as well. All of these can be found in a blend called Liver Cleanse.
For immediate get-rid-of dandruff, here are three ideas:
This method is good for dry hair:
30 drops of sandalwood essential oil
30 drops of rosemary essential oil
1/4 cup of herbs etc house base oil blend
Mix them together, shake well and massage the mixture into the scalp. Leave it for half an hour, and then, shampoo. Repeat this routine every time you wash your hair, and make sure to rinse your hair thoroughly after using the oils to remove any loosened skin cells.
This method is good for oily hair:
2 T of pure water
1 T of white vinegar
Mix them together. After wash and dry the hair, massage this mixture into scalp, and let hair dry naturally.
This method is good for yeast based dandruff:
1 fresh onion, use its juice.
Massage into the scalp, wait for a few minutes and then, wash it off with clean water.
Yeast imbalances can also be helped with the herb Pau D Arco internally and consider some probiotics (friendly bacteria).
Hair Loss
We lose a small amount of hair every day, it’s normal; but if we lose a lot of hair, it is abnormal. It may be due to poor general health, stress, hormones or genetic factors. The best treatments are hair lotions that stimulate blood flow to the scalp and the roots of the hair. Increased circulation provides the hair with nutrients and helps it to grow.
A traditional recipe for hair loss treatment:
20 drops of rosemary oil
20 drops of lavender oil
2 T of nettle tincture
1/3 c. of pure water
Mix them together, massage well into the scalp at night, and use for long term.
herbs etc has also had great success with the Nature’s Fresh enzyme spray on the head morning and night!
Herbs for Your Hair Type
Fair Hair: chamomile, calendula, elderflower, mullein, saffron, turmeric, yarrow
Dark Hair: comfrey, marjoram, nettle, parsley, raspberry leaf, rosemary, sage, thyme
Red Hair: marigold flowers, red hibiscus, red oak bark (powdered), ginger, saffron
Gray Hair: wood betony, marjoram, nettle, rosemary, sage, walnut
Oily Hair: germanium, lavender, lemon balm, parsley, peppermint, rosemary, white head nettle, witch hazel
Dry Hair: burdock, calendula, chamomile, comfrey, elder flower, lavender, marshmallow, sandalwood.
Dull Hair: calendula, fennel leaf, parsley, rosemary, southernwood, stinging nettle
Dandruff Hair: basil, burdock root, cleavers, cypress, lavender, mint, nettle, parsley, rosemary, southernwood
Thinning Hair: bay chamomile, cedarwood, clary sage, cypress, horsetail, southernwood.
The above may be taken as singles or combinations by capsules, some are best as teas, and some as oils, ask a consultant for details.
In summary of the hair care I did for myself: combed my hair 100 times every day (2 sets of 50x am and pm) and massage fresh ginger juice into my scalp once a month. I got unbelievable results!
