The Inversion method for hair growth
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In short, the method involves
1. A scalp massage nightly with oil
2. Turning your head upside down afterwards for upto 4 minutes
The result is supposed to a gain of anywhere between a quarter to an inch of hair length.
The Science
1. Inversion method says: Scalp massage can stimulate regrowth of hair
Research says : This has not been seen in human studies but in rats, massage is thought to help hair regrow - not at a faster rate but just simply regrow - read the full study analysis here
2. Inversion method says: Turning the head upside down should increase blood flow to the head which the author theorises will be helpful to hair growth
Research says: Turning your head upside will change the blood flow and pressure, partly the reason why the inversion method can be dangerous for those with blood pressure problems, pregnant or with glaucoma. In mice again, it has been shown that if you block development of blood vessels, hair growth will decrease so there is some relation to blood vessels and hair growth- (J Clin Invest, pp 409-417)
My view: I think if you are fit and healthy, sure you can try it, there is no real harm. On balance, this method is certainly a lot better than a product promising you hair growth. I do, however, think it is a faddy thing, your hair will grow regardless. Anyone here planning to turn their head upside down?
Here are the do's and don'ts by the author of the inversion method.
I get nauseous turning my head upside down, lose the ability to breathe and end up gasping for air like a fish. (Yeah, I know, real cute).
ReplyDeleteSo I'm pretty sure after 4 minutes of that, I'd be unconscious :)
lol! I do think that 4 minutes is a long time.
DeleteI don't go completely upside down. Just 90 degrees at the waist, and hold my head down. I do it on an empty tummy and my husband nearby as a spotter.
DeleteGals.... i am a gymnast and i can stand on my hands for hours... these 4 mins couldnt do any arm to anybody
DeleteThanks for posting about this, Jc! I'm wondering if the inversion method is any better than regular exercise (which we should all be getting anyway) for changing the blood flow to the head. I doubt it, but what are your thoughts?
ReplyDeleteYou are so right! I think exercise is probably a whole lot better!
DeleteIf exercise gave the same effect (that is if the theory is actually true), my hair would have been knee length by now......no joke! LOL
Deletehttp://myrebornhair.blogspot.co.uk/
I think exercise is better. Even with this method, they say you can only do it for a week, then your body adjusts, you get UP TO an inch of growth, some people only get 1/4. Exercise works out the whole body, and you end up being healthier, fitter, happier (can actually go up a flight of stairs without gasping for air!) and your skin will seriously glow! And on top of all that, your hair will grow too, again UP TO 1 and 3/4 inches over the course of a month.
DeleteSo, personally, working out will work better for me.
Yup i so agree
Deletethanks for posting this. I've been meaning to try it just to proof it doesn't work. I don't know why people are so length obsessed. I mean, unless your doctor just told you you're going to die in the near future and you really want to go to your grave with long hair, then by any means, be length obsessed!
ReplyDeletelol! I think the author has done a fair enough job of saying that it may not work for some people. I am definitely a patience type of person, hair grows :)
DeleteWhen you said "inversion" I thought you meant completely hanging upside down! My eyes nearly bugged out of my head!
ReplyDeletelol, it is just what the chat forums call it.
Deleteafter the first day i no longer feel weird, infact i stop after 2 minutes out of boredom.
ReplyDeleteIf exercise gave the same result (if the theory is actually true), my hair would be knee length by now....no joke!
ReplyDeleteSo I guess the challenge is, could you actually grow your hair to knee length using the inversion method? Should not take more than a year if it is true :)
DeleteI hate being upside down! I would not do well if I'm on a rollercoaster that got stuck upside down.
ReplyDeleteSo ummm yeah, I tried this for one week and got 3/4 of an inch when I don't even grow that in a month.
ReplyDelete-Skeptic no more
I tried it and got roughly 2 inches of hair growth in a week. It's not as bad as people think bending your head down yoga poses require that sometimes and it is actually good for you (think inversion tables). Anyway I have seen for myself that it adds length in one week. And the reason I want length (which I am allowed to want as some ladies on here can't understand why) is because I chopped off all my damaged hair and it's short and back to curls which on me look way better with a little length. So I took care of the health of my hair and now I want length just to my shoulder will do me fine for now :)
Delete*Oh and I did this without oiling my scalp! Just massaged it with my fingers. 4mins everyday for 7 days - adjust to your liking ladies.
DeleteI tried this recently and my hair grew 1/4 inch- 3/4 inch in some places. I wasn't particularly fond of oiling my scalp 7 days in a row.
ReplyDelete(ps. I was a quite uncomfortable with your references to scientist testing rats/mice.)
Animal testing is common and for some drug testing prior to a human study even mandatory. I feel like it is a matter of transparency to say that a test was not done on a human being..........it is not something that I can negate because it is important information :)
DeleteIn relation to this, can you please explain whether you believe regular scalp massages have a positive effect on growth rate at all?
ReplyDeleteThank you in advance!
I'll admit I did a modified version of this for all of one week lol I got lazy. I would do a scalp massage every morning and night with my head upside down.
ReplyDeleteI'm not disciplined enough to stick with it. It's god to know it's just a gimmick anyway.
Not a gimmick for ALOT of ladies like myself. Don't knock it til you've tried it but regular scalp massages are great and the inversion brings better circulation to the scalp hence the effects myself and many other ladies have witnessed :-)
DeleteIn 7 days of doing this can i wash my hair? I ask because i have really short hair and it seems dirty when i have oil...
ReplyDeleteThats the same question ive been wondering, mine is short too and it will look really dirty,
DeleteSame question ive been wondering
Deleteyes but you have to co-wash only. and you must do it after each oiling session. what you do is you oil your hair and do the inversion method then afterwards you leave it in for AT LEAST two hours then co-wash it out.
DeleteOk red tipped dreams the real inversion method doesnt involve washing at all dont know who sold you that theory but thats not it
DeleteI, together with some fellow bloggers and facebook page fans are trying this out this week, starting today...we'll compare results and we do really hope we all get an inch or at least half in just a week....lol!!
ReplyDeletewww.ghlonghair.blogspot.com
Didn't realize you only do it for a week. I guess there's no harm in trying? I was about to say it looks like it would cause some back problems. 4 minutes is a long time to stay bent over like that...
ReplyDeleteMany yoga poses place your head in an upside down position, and they can be held for up to 3 minutes; so...
DeleteI did this last month and gained a full inch in 6 days...no joke. I'm doing it again this month to see if it was just a fluke. Its not everything that can be explained, sometimes things just work.
ReplyDeleteDo you get the same results if you don't
ReplyDeleteuse oil??
Yes :-)
DeleteCould you just lie frontwards or backwards over a balance ball too?
ReplyDeleteHey! I did it too and only for 3 days and got too busy to finish and my hair grew atleast an inch!!!!! I was in utter shock! This month I'm gonna try and do the whole 7 days but this time I'm going to work out first, and do the inversion shortly after since my blood is already flowing pretty intensely, I'm hypothesiZing I may get even more growth!!! ;) mwahahahaha we shall see!!! Any hoo this is something really good to do a week b4 u get a trim so u don't miss any length! See...I've got this all planned out ;)
ReplyDeletehi, I was wondering how frequently can you do this 7 days? once a month or every second week maybe?would that be dangerous? thank you,
ReplyDeletedesperate girl trying to grow out pixie looking like unattractive 1970s man x
Once a week. Too frequently would cause the results to wear off since the point is to trick your brain. And our brains tend to grow accustomed to things pretty quickly.
Deleteso can you do this after you wash your hair??? or do you have to do it when its dry
ReplyDeleteIm on day two of trying this and at start my hair was right at 16 inches long on the side. I will post my results in 5 days!!
ReplyDeleteThis makes me queasy even imagining it so I'm not interested in doing it! The results are interesting though. When I was consistently exercising I noticed that my hair did grow faster so that's pretty cool. I'm of the mindset of Adeola (The Mane Captain), I'm not in a rush. I have a hair growth goal and 4 1/2 years in, I've come to value the lessons that I've learned from the journey more than hitting my targets. Patience, consistency, the seeking of knowledge,the application of it, and the success and failures have made my experience such that I don't feel the need to rush it. I'm enjoying the process.
ReplyDeleteI was found with a blood clot in my brain last year, now I am off treatment I thought inversion method yes let's do this, but oh my, I can feel the pressure building in my head, I think this is actually very dangerous, so gave up after 30 secs. I think I might just take up a sport to increase blood circulation.
ReplyDeleteOh please dont take a risk! You can go with a nice warm oil massage and trust me it also works wonders.my mom makes a mixture of equal amount of coconut, olive and mustard oils.you can save it in a bottle n use it warm 30 minutes before shampoo.result is shiny healthy hair.
DeleteThe only reason why it's called the inversion method is because you invert yourself!
DeleteYes if you have any blood issues, you should not invert yourself.
DeleteI'm a 12 yr old who is in need of desperate hair growth coz I cut my hair to mid back length when it was almost bum length! Will this work for me? Or will it be too dangerous?
ReplyDeleteIt's the 12 yr old again! Will I have to shampoo my hair every time after I do the inversion method?
ReplyDeleteNo, this method does not require you to shampoo your hair. You do have to watch out for the warnings on becoming dizzy and make sure someone is watching you while you do it.
DeleteThanks! I've done it with my older brother next 2 me and it's been alright.. I did it for 2 days, 1st day without oil, 2nd day with unseated oil from the bottom.. I haven't done it for almost 3 days now so have I messed up the cycle and have to restart it? Could you give me some advice? Most appreciated :)
ReplyDeleteI am not the author of the method. I guess, you would just restart and try it for 7 days straight.
DeleteDo I have to wash my hair before doing the inversion method
ReplyDeletewashing hair strips out the natural oils in your hair you dont want to be washing it more than every 3 days.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience the massage actually helps. I did an experiment some years ago, with this method and others, but scalp massage was the only this that actually worked. I cut a lock of hait so it was easy to find, and measured it for a month before I started to find out how fast my hair normally grows (ca. 1cm), then one month of scalp massage. I did it whenever I remembered. Not daily, but a couple of days a week a few times during the day. My hair grew ca. 2cm that month. Maybe you should try that experiment too? I never got to try and see if silica makes it grow faster
ReplyDeleteIt gave me an instant migraine and I wasn't right for days. Never tried it again.
ReplyDeleteI think if these people exercised they would not need any inversion method...get up and do some aerobics, you whole body needs circulation not just your head...
ReplyDeleteI'm growing out a buzz, and one of the things I will miss about my super-short hair is how good it feels when things rub it. So I figured, hey, why not. My hair is very easy to measure objectively, being so short. Worst case scenario, my hair grows anyway and I give myself a head massage while watching YouTube videos.
ReplyDeleteNo extra growth whatsoever so far. Just the normal amount I would expect over this period of time. Not surprised, really. But hey, I got head massages!
What if you skipped a day ...will it not work
ReplyDelete