Hair fall has become one of the most frustrating issues that are faced by many people these days. There are many reasons for hair fall. It can be because of stress, food habits, climate change, or even your hair care routine.
Nail rubbing is one of the exercises followed by ancient people to cure any hair problems from the root. Even acupressure doctors and yoga masters suggest doing nail rubbing for your hair problems. In this article, let’s see whether nail rubbing helps in hair growth or not.
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What is nail rubbing?
Nail rubbing is the practice of rubbing your nails against each other. The yoga name for nail rubbing is Balayam, in which Bal means hair and Vyayam means exercise.
This exercise mainly treats hair problems like hair fall, hair growth, balding, and grey hair. Other than hair problems, it is said that it can cure insomnia. Rubbing nails takes at least 3 to 4 months to show its results.
How does nail rubbing help in hair growth?
Nail rubbing has different theories and perceptions, and in every theory, it is said that nail rubbing works for hair growth.
What does Ayurveda say about nail rubbing?
Nail rubbing exercise is mainly originated from India in the form of yoga as Balayam yoga.
As per Ayurveda, the nails and hair are considered malas that are vestigial (waste products) of metabolic activities responsible for the formation of bones and skeletal system (asthi dhatu).
Like your skeletal system, your nails and hair react to the three doshas: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.
Unbalancing any one of the doshas, particularly Vata and Pita, leads to the hair problems such as dandruff, hair fall, and greying.
So, according to Ayurveda, practicing Balayam yoga helps balance the doshas in your body, thus promoting your nails and hair growth. It is also said that balancing all three doshas is vital to lead a healthy life.
Nail rubbing theory according to acupressure and reflexology
Reflexology is the application of pressure at a specific point referred to as reflex areas. This is mainly done to cure any pain, infections, and even any disease using the pressure point.
As per reflexology or acupressure, the pressure points are linked to several parts of your body. In the same way, the nerves in the root of the fingernails are directly connected to your scalp and hair follicles.
When you rub your fingernails, it creates a blood flow to your hair follicles and increases blood circulation. The more blood supply to a specific part of the body, the more it will be healthier. So when the blood supply increases to your hair follicles, it promotes hair growth and reverses the grey hair to your natural hair color.
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Nail rubbing according to adult stem cell theory
Stem cells are the undifferentiated cell present in our body responsible for the production of specialized cells. Stem cells can produce new cells and repair the damaged cells or tissues in our body.
When it comes to your hair and scalp, your hair follicles also have adult stem cell that helps grow the hair.
When you practice nail rubbing, your brain sends a signal to the stem cells to repair the damaged cells in your hair follicles. So the stem cells rejuvenate the damaged cells in your hair follicles, thus resulting in new hair and rapid hair growth.
How to do Balayam (nail rubbing exercise)?
Nail rubbing exercise is straightforward to do, and you can do it anywhere you want. Nail rubbing practice will be more effective when you do it on an empty stomach to 2 to 3 hours after eating.
To do the nail rubbing exercise:
Step 1: Sit in a comfortable position, relax your mind, and body and bring both your hands to your chest level.
Step 2: Curl your fingers and stick out your thumbs. Your fingernails should be touching each other, and your palm should be against each other.
Step 3: Now rub the nails of each hand against each other, leaving your thumbnail for 5 to 10 minutes.
Benefits of nail rubbing
Nail rubbing has a lot of benefits for your hair and as well as your overall health.
Nail rubbing increases the blood flow to your hair’s roots, thus improving your hair health, and it is said that rubbing your thumbnails helps in beard growth.
Premature greying can also be cured by practicing nail rubbing exercises. Rubbing nails is also very effective in curing headaches, migraines and insomnia problems. It also helps in reducing hair fall and prevent premature greying of hair.
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Things to consider before you do nail rubbing exercise
Nail rubbing helps you with your hair problems, but you need to consider few things before you practice this.
If you have any heart condition or blood pressure, you should avoid this practice as it increases the blood flow in your body.
Pregnant women should not practice nail rubbing since it can cause uterine contractions. In case of any skin problem, it is not recommended to practice nail rubbing exercise.
