I don’t think it’s the same for people who love to rock a short hairstyle. But for people with long hair, haircuts can be a scary experience. For some reason, however you think your hair will look after, it doesn’t. Most of the time it’s because you tell the stylist to just cut off your dead ends, and they do, but you had way more dead ends than you realized. After a week, you finally get used to your shorter locks, but still can’t wait to grow them back out. This time you swear you won’t damage them with chemicals or heat, so you don’t need to go through this same ordeal again. You may swear, but we all know that you can’t stay away from a hot tool for that long. Therefore, many people who want long hair are looking for natural ways to grow it out more quickly.

The only times in my life that I’ve felt like I was in a crunch to grow my hair was when I wanted to cut it to donate it. Most organizations that accept hair donations need a full twelve inches. I could have really used an easy method to get my locks to grow faster at that stage. With celebrities like Kim Kardashian rocking long, silky hair, it’s no wonder that everyone is trying to figure out how to achieve that look without using hair extensions. Let’s take a deeper look into the inversion method and what’s making it the talk of the town.

What Is The Inversion Method?

The inversion method involves turning your head upside down in the hopes of growing your hair faster.

If you’ve never heard of the inversion method, then I’m going to fill you in. It has become an internet sensation. Many people stumble across the inversion method in their research on how to get their hair to grow in quickly. The method is supposed to help your hair grow an extra 1-2 inches, at most, per month. The inversion method means literally inverting yourself to make your hair quickly grow longer. All you need to do is apply oil to your scalp and hang off the side of your bed or couch. Some people do a handstand, headstand, or use an inversion table. Yes, all the blood will rush to your head, but that’s the point. The increased blood flow to your scalp should be able to reinvigorate your slowly growing hair follicles.

There’s no scientific evidence that can back these claims up, but there’s also none that can disprove it. It’s said that baldness is caused by a lack of blood flow to the scalp, so why shouldn’t this work? There are people that swear by it and others that say it’s a lie. Better you try it for yourself than taking other people’s word for it.

How Can The Inversion Method Help Hair?

Your hair needs healthy nutrients and good blood flow in order to grow long and strong.

If you’re currently wondering how the inversion method can help your hair, here’s the answer for you. The inversion method boosts hair by increasing the blood flow to your scalp. I know I make it sound simple, but the biological process of hair growth isn’t that easy to understand. That’s because the hair follicle is a complex structure. You need to start from the root, which is the scalp. Treating the scalp involves using good nutrients and good blood flow. These two aspects are what make up the inversion method. Your hair gets all of its nutrients through your bloodstream. Increasing the blood flow will increase nutrient supply. This is why the inversion method can help your hair.

The increase of blood flow to your scalp can also prevent scalp problems like dandruff, psoriasis, and other issues that prevent your hair from being strong and healthy. If you want to get technical, I can get technical. At the lower part of the hair follicle, you have the hair papilla, hair matrix, hair shaft, and the inner and outer root sheath. The papilla is located in the lower dermis, which is the source of hair growth. The matrix provides capillaries access to nutrients by wrapping around the papilla. With all of this knowledge, we can concur that the inversion method should be able to help hair growth.

Top 5 Oils For The Inversion Method

1. Coconut Oil

Coconut oil can work wonders for your hair.

As you probably already know, coconut oil is becoming a must-have for all things beauty. The same thing applies to your hair. It’s packed with vitamin E and saturated fatty acid. It’s also anti-fungal and anti-bacterial. In addition to helping your hair grow quicker, it can also prevent split ends and hair loss, and it can slow down hair loss. It can even work as a conditioner and moisturizer. Before applying the coconut oil to your hair, you’ll need to warm it up just a bit and comb it through your hair. Don’t make it too hot. After being inverted for four minutes, you should leave the oil in your hair for two hours to reap all of the benefits. 

2. Olive Oil

Olive oil helps your hair by delivering antioxidants and strengthening your roots.

Full of antioxidants, olive oil is great for hair growth and scalp health. When you massage olive oil into your scalp, you’re actually increasing the blood flow to the hair follicles. Therefore, the follicles are stimulated to grow thicker strands of hair. This technically doubles your amount of growth. In addition to hair growth, olive oil can prevent dandruff and strengthen your roots and the tips of your locks. You’ll need to warm up the olive oil before applying it to your hair. Do not put it in the microwave. Microwaving any of the oils you choose will only make them lose some of their nutritional value.

3. Sweet Almond Oil

Sweet almond oil packs a punch with its many vitamins.

This oil is extremely light and therefore great for all types of hair. Sweet almond oil will help control frizz by smoothing the cuticles of your hair. This is extra beneficial for people with curly or kinky hair that don’t have much natural shine. Sweet almond oil locks in moisture and it can be used as a leave-in conditioner. It’s filled with protein and vitamins, which makes it ideal for hair that lacks luster. Vitamins A, B, and E are all present in the oil and are great for adding shine and luster. The moisture-sealing properties will also prevent damage like split ends and breakage. B1 and B6 vitamins promote hair growth.

4. Jamaican Castor Oil

Jamaican castor oil is the go-to for those with curly or kinky hair.

This oil is ideal for the kinky and curly-haired population. Jamaican castor oil is great for hair growth even when you aren’t doing the inversion method, so imagine how even more amazing it is when the two are paired together. The main uses for this oil are for your skin and hair. Massaging it into your scalp will help cleanse and stimulate your hair follicles. This wakes them up and gets them growing even quicker. The cells on your scalp need to be active for your hair to experience a growth spurt. This oil is on the thicker side, so don’t be afraid to mix it with olive oil or coconut oil.

5. Grapeseed Oil

Grapeseed oil will help you achieve shiny hair.

This oil has a very light consistency, which makes it a favorite for hair and skin products. Grapeseed oil contains linoleic acid. This is a fatty acid that’s necessary for the function of our major organs, but it’s not naturally produced by the human body. A lack of it can lead to a loss of hair, in addition to dry skin and a dry scalp. Linoleic acid can even reduce bad cholesterol and decrease the risk of coronary heart disease. It contains natural conditioning agents that bring out your hair’s natural shine and vibrancy. The key to using grapeseed oil is to have patience. It will work, you just need to give it time. 

Does The Inversion Method Work?

The inversion method is said to work if you follow the instructions. Before you flip your head upside down, you need to first massage your scalp with oil. It’s ideal to use essential oils.

Dilute about 3-4 drops of essential oil with the carrier oil of your choice. You can use coconut oil, olive oil, or argan oil. All of these are great options since they offer their own panel of benefits.

Massage the oil into your clean hair for four to five minutes while focusing mostly on your scalp. After all the massaging, you can hang your head upside down. The ideal position would be you to sit on a chair with your head hanging in between your legs. Make sure all your hair is flipped upside down. Stay inverted for four minutes unless you begin to feel dizzy or any other discomfort. At that point, you should slowly come up. Raise your head slowly to avoid any dizziness or a head rush. You are then free to wash out the oil, or you can leave it in overnight with a shower cap.

Even though there’s no scientific evidence that this helps, there are many people that swear by it. If you find that it does work for you, you shouldn’t do it more than once a month. You don’t want your head to get used to the blood rush-then it may stop working.

Inversion Method Side Effects Explained

Be careful about using the inversion method if you’re pregnant.

As I mentioned earlier, the inversion method hasn’t been studied. So there aren’t official safety guidelines, but it’s safe to say that the inversion method can have some side effects. Hanging your head between your legs for any significant amount of time should be done with caution. When you hang upside down for more than a few minutes, your blood pressure increases. Holding this position for too long can also injure your back and neck, as well as cause dizziness. It can even kill you.

When you flip upside down, blood immediately rushes to your head. When you stay like this for too long, it can cause a brain hemorrhage or a blood vessel to rupture. Most problems, though, are caused by a lack of oxygen, which is known as asphyxiation. The inversion method isn’t recommended for someone who has heart disease, high blood pressure, vertigo, a detached retina, back pain, or is pregnant. Being upside down, your organs put extra weight on your lungs.

This obviously makes it harder to breathe. It can also cause heart problems because of the more-than-usual amount of blood rushing to your heart. Your heart is forced to pump harder than normal. You may also have some vision problems caused by the pressure in your eye sockets. All of these issues are only real issues if you’ve been hanging upside down for a few hours. But if you have any health issues, these problems can come sooner than you’d think.

Conclusion

It may be hard to believe that there’s a way to grow hair quickly without using chemicals or breaking the bank, but it’s possible. All you need are a few nourishing techniques and some patience. Once you’ve tried the inversion method, you’ll realize what a game changer it is. One of the great things about this method for growing hair quickly is that you only need to use it for a week, once a month. Therefore it’s just one week on and three weeks off. Doing it all the time would actually make it less effective.

If you’re wondering if it’s worth trying, then just think about the pros versus cons. If you do try it and it works, then amazing! And if it doesn’t work for you then you didn’t lose that much money, because you can use oil that you already own. It’s not like purchasing hair vitamins that are super expensive. The only way you’ll know if it’s working over the short term is by measuring different sections of your hair at the end of the week. You may not be growing four inches in a week, but any growth should be celebrated.