Incorrect brushing, and using the wrong type of brush, can be taxing on both your strands and your scalp. We recommend using a comb to ease out tangles, followed by a brush for styling.
Brushes and combs are excellent for grooming, and both greatly benefit your hair. A hairbrush generally works better for dry hair and can be ideal for removing dandruff residues and massaging the scalp, while a comb is the perfect tool for detangling your hair when wet.
We were able to find only one study, from 2007, that directly compared the effects of brushes and combs on hair breakage. Brushes were more likely to break off long strands of hair, while combs were more likely to break off short strands of hair. The researchers believed that this was because of the layout of bristles.
Generally, the comb is to be preferred when the hair is wet, because it is able to better untangle the knots without breaking the hair shaft. Instead, the brush is more aggressive on wet hair and it may risk to breake it.
Knowing how to brush your hair the right way can help prevent breakage and damage. It can also keep your hair healthy, shiny, and free of tangles. Hair care experts recommend brushing your hair twice a day — morning and night — to help distribute your scalp's natural oils through your hair.
Prevents hair loss: Avoiding combing your hair on a regular basis, preferably twice a day, might result in unsightly knots in your hair. These knots can be uncomfortable, and they can also cause unneeded hair breakage.
Combing acts upon the capillaries of the scalp, increasing the blood circulation. This helps in transporting oxygen and nutrients to the hair follicles effectively. This nourishes the hair roots, promotes growth and helps reduce hair loss.
While you could go your whole life without brushing your hair except for the occasional detangling, more regular brushing offers benefits for certain hair types and textures. Dry hair benefits from the scalp stimulation and natural oil distribution caused by brushing, so regular, daily brushing helps keep hair shiny.
“Brushing the hair too much may cause friction and damage the cuticle [aka the outside layer of the strand] this, in turn, causes breakage and split ends,” he explains. “If the hair is sensitive due to chemical services, the hair will already be porous and damaged so extra caution is advised when brushing.
There are quite a few tool options for detangling. One of the more common is a wide-tooth comb. While wide tooth combs are effective at removing knots, a better solution, particularly for coily hair, is a detangling brush.
Combing hair from time to time helps to keep the shine, enhance volume, and maintain bounce since the hair looks healthy and fresh. Just like brushing your teeth daily, it is important to comb your hair every day.
Too much brushing can irritate your scalp and stress your hair, causing it to break and fall out. I recommend brushing long hair a few times a day, not more. The same advice applies to using combs: be gentle and, if your hair is long, hold your hair in your hands and comb the ends out first.
The Benefits of Brushing Your Hair
A brush helps distribute those oils so that you can avoid the host of problems that come from having too-dry strands: breakage, frizzing, split ends, and overly greasy roots. Plus, you get a healthy shine in the process.
Excessive combing or brushing strains your scalp, which can cause breakage and hair loss, so Allyson recommends brushing only once in the morning and once at night.
Hair Fall While Combing Or Brushing
If you notice hair fall while brushing, it may leave you perplexed. However, this is the hair that has already fallen out of the follicles. The hair brushing simply separates this hair from the rest of your hair. It is a normal phenomenon.
Your Roots Get Greasier
According to StyleCaster, brushing distributes nourishing oil from the scalp to areas that need it, so you'll probably end up with oil buildup without a brush. To hide oily scalps, throw your hair in a messy bun or a sleek pony tail.
“Whatever you do, do not brush your hair when it's wet because that's when it's at its weakest and becomes vulnerable to breakage (leading to flyaways), split ends and damage,” advises Rob. “Even worse you can actually pull hair from the roots that way.
However, if your hair is very long, or if your hair is very dry, you may want to brush three times a day to keep tangles at bay and encourage the production of natural oil. If your hair is oily or curly, brushing once a day – or even once per shampoo – is typically ideal.
When to wash. Rossi generally tells his patients they should wash their hair once or twice per week. But if you've had chemical treatments that can make your hair drier — such as bleach, perms or relaxers — you might want to wash it less than once weekly to avoid breaking or brittle hair or split ends, he said.
The short answer is that not detangling your hair can cause it to loc over time and how fast depends on the texture and style. If you are wearing your hair loose (twist outs, wash and go's, braid outs, etc.), I would not go any longer than a week without combing.
Wooden comb: Stimulates hair growth, reduces scalp infection & hair fall - Times of India.
"Hair swells when it is wet and the outside layer, which is called the cuticle, becomes even more fragile," he says. He likes to gently separate curly strands while they are dry, breaking up difficult areas with hair serum, and brushing everything through with a wide-tooth comb.