Posted 2016/12/10
Modern-day mental workers are often worried about hair loss due to excessive use of the brain. In fact, many scholars and men of letters of ancient times also suffered from the same problem.
Su Dongpo, the literary giant of the Song Dynasty, was once troubled by hair loss. Following a famous doctor's advice, he made it a habit to comb his hair in the morning and at night. Not long afterwards, his hair loss stopped. Actually, the massage of a comb or fingers on many acupuncture points in the head could activate blood flow and as a result, migraine, neurogenic headache and headaches due to muscular tension and insomnia could be alleviated.
Ancient people paid special attention to the selection of materials for comb making. Everything from gold, silver to jade, ivory to rhino horns, hawksbill shell and to rare wood of various species were used to make combs with different effects.
The boxwood comb was recommended in the Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica) for its functions of detoxifying and removing pathogenic heat from blood. The "rhino comb" made of real rhino horns was used by imperial court ladies to comb their hair or as an ornament. Rhino horns have the effects of clearing away heat and toxic materials from the blood and can be used for treating headaches due to febrile diseases and impaired consciousness due to fever. Rhino horns are a rare medicine and difficult to come by.
Combs made of ox or sheep horns were used by ordinary people as substitutes of those made of rhino horns. Ox or sheep horns are not sticky after being cleaned and hair won’t get caught due to the horns' warm and humid property. At the same time, such horns are traditional Chinese medicine capable of cooling blood, easing fever and tranquilizing. They can be used to reduce inflammation, ease pain, and to cure headaches and toxic heat. The horns are also effective in treating dandruff and insomnia.
