What is Oil Pulling?
Alternative medicine is still popular in major cities in the world, from aromatherapy to yoga, people are still putting their faith into something other than traditional medicine to uplift the mind and keep the body healthy. Even if it means doing limb-twisting exercises, collecting exotic spices and fragrances to clear away negative energy, cleansing the body’s toxins with herbs and solutions, or other new age ideas to get the benefit of alternative medicine’s proven and perceived effect.

As unusual health practices go, many border the extreme and the downright weird but are considered by practicers and followers beneficial and effective. One of the recently popular ideas in body cleansing is what they call Oil Pulling or Oil Swishing.

Oil Pulling: An Ayurvedic Method of Cleansing
This discovery by Dr. F. Karach is catching on various places in the western world and has already been practiced for many years by many who follow the alternative treatment lifestyle. Oil pulling is an ayurvedic method to cleanse the body, and is considered safe, non-invasive and a simple enough to fit in any hectic lifestyle. Alternative medicine is now almost synonymous to Ayurveda, which is a system of Indian traditional medicine known for its wholesome treatments with the use of herbs, massage and other forms of therapy.

Oil Pulling is a simple procedure that requires cold-pressed oils. Popular choices would be oils from sesame and sunflower combined. It is known to have healing properties against illnesses and diseases.

What makes Oil Pulling appealing to people is its very simplicity where the promised results of the treatment can be theirs without surgery. Since only cold-pressed oils are used, users are sure to get less adverse reaction and avoid harmful effects to the body, unless the user is allergic to sesame/sunflower oil.

How to Do Oil Pulling
Oil Pulling is also commonly known as Oil Swishing, which pertains to the act of “swishing oil” inside one’s mouth.

1. It is best to do Oil Pulling before breakfast. All you need is a tablespoon or two of sesame or sunflower oil.

2. Swish the cold-pressed oil around your mouth for 20-30 minutes, much like how you would with mouthwash. Wash the walls of the mouth and pull the fluid between your teeth as well. Doing the entire routine like this will activate the enzymes, which in turn, makes the enzymes draw out the toxins. Constant swishing will also make your saliva flow faster.

3. Avoid swallowing the oil as much as possible, as the oil becomes filled with toxins with each swish.

4. After 20 minutes of swishing, the oil should become less viscous or thinner, and should turn into a whitish color. Spit a little of the oil out. If the oil still looks yellowish, you haven’t “pulled the oil” enough. Do it for another 10 minutes or until the oil turns white.

5. Rinse the whole mouth with water after doing oil pulling. Make sure to get even the farthest recess as it is essential to rinse the underside of the tongue and in between the teeth.

Who should practice Oil Pulling?
People who are open-minded about wholesome treatments and alternative medicine should inquire after oil pulling. This treatment is known to prevent illnesses and diseases but not necessarily to cure them. Another thing that followers of the Oil Pulling method love is that they don’t use potent drugs that have negative side effects to the body.

Another benefit to Oil Pulling is a higher metabolic rate and is an effective way to maintain and improve oral or dental health.

Itchy scalp and tell-tale flakes on your shoulders? That’s dandruff and you don’t want that on your head! It is extremely itchy and it is quite annoying to scratch your head over and over especially when you’re with company or even somewhere public.

Though shedding of dead skin on your scalp is pretty normal, an unusual amount is quite worrying. A person may experience this when they use the wrong shampoo or conditioner, irritation from various hair products or even from exposure to extreme and varying temperature. Dandruff can be a symptom of a fungal infection as well, so it’s best to get it checked and find the cause of it.

Not only is dandruff very itchy and an inconvenience, but it is also embarrassing! It makes a person self-conscious if the flakes drop from the scalp to the shoulders or are all over your hair. The dandruff flakes are gray to white and it becomes more pronounced on dark clothing.

Common cases of dandruff reveal that it doesn’t go away by itself or disappear eventually, so that’s why dandruff treatment is essential. There are shampoo and leave-on treatments for it. Though it is very rare to have a serious disease from dandruff alone, and it’s not really contagious, it is something that we’d rather not have in our hair if we can help it.

WHY DO WE HAVE DANDRUFF?
Our skin changes constantly, without us even knowing. It is only when our skin peels off that we do. This is the same for the scalp as well, as it is part of our skin only covered with a full head of hair. The skin has an epidermal layer that replaces itself over time and the scalp usually does this periodically. However, there are certain triggers and conditions that can cause a more rapid development and shedding. This is what people with dandruff are experiencing.

As mentioned before, it can be a fungal infection, an inflammatory response and results in dandruff. But more and more cases have shown that dandruff is also caused by chemicals that we put in our hair that doesn’t sit well on the skin. As people use lots of hair products, the higher the chances of product chemicals settling on the scalp and on the roots of the hair.

When a person has dandruff, they mostly tend to buy whatever available anti-dandruff shampoo that’s currently popular in the market. There are a whole lot of brands offering relief from dandruff, but most of them take too long to take effect, usually after 2-3 months of usage. There are also medicated creams and gels but you still should be careful of what you put into your own scalp as it might just trigger it more and you are left with more flakes than before.

THE WAY TO NATURAL DANDRUFF TREATMENT
Strategies for dandruff control are vast and expensive. Some products do remove the flakes but do not get to the root of the problem. The total removal of the fungal infection is even more difficult. Here are tried-and-tested natural ways to help you alleviate dandruff problems:

1. Tea Tree Oil – a simple oil that has been regarded as very useful when trying to revitalize the skin. It is also found to be very useful when zoning in on the fungal infection without affecting and damaging the hair and roots around it like what most fungal creams would do. The application is very simple. Just wipe a generous amount on the infected area after washing your hair or before going to sleep.

2. Virgin Olive Oil – a home remedy that has been passed down from generations. Olive oil is a popular home treatment all over the world because it has been proven to cure dandruff. Not only is this very affordable since you can find olive oil in your kitchen, the application is as easy as the tea tree oil as well.

3. Apple Cider Vinegar – This supposed “cure-all” also helps people with dandruff. A half cup of ACV is all you need, diluted in water to wash your hair in. Some people swear by ACV and they also practice swiping a cottonball dipped in vinegar and leaving it on the scalp overnight to be rinsed out in the morning bath.

4. Beer – Rich in Vitamin B, beer is a great cure for dandruff because it helps clear up the dry, scaly patch. Normal usage is a bottle of ordinary beer, drizzled all over your head. Massage the scalp and rinse off with water. Beer is also a hair revitalizer, so don’t be surprised if your hair feels softer and shinier after rinsing!

Dandruff is one of the most common hair problems and you shouldn’t stress over it too much. With the right treatment, even the most stubborn dandruff will go away! So remember to not overdo it with styling products you love so much. Take it easy on the hairsprays and gels, use mild and cleansing shampoos to get rid of the build up in hair and when necessary visit a doctor or a specialist.