Does losing the shampoo "fix" damaged hair?

So I just posted a comment on a blog that appears to be dormant now (no posts since December), but I also wanted to share my thoughts here.

The blogger in question basically asked whether or not the "curly girl" or shampoo free method of caring for your hair really does anything to restore already damaged hair, or if people are just noticing the results of not damaging the new hair as it grows in.

Now, I didn't have particularly damaged curly hair to begin with - I've always been very heavy handed with the conditioner, and the moisturizers, and using creamy styling products because I knew that curly hair is drier, and I'm fortunate enough to have a hairdresser that actually seeks out products to help me with my hair.

But what I said on this blog is that the difference in my hair isn't as noticeable as the difference in my scalp.

Three months in and my hair looks great - I think the color
looks better too! 

I have eczema - it's a lovely, genetically inherited condition that causes my skin to dry up in awful, flaky and sometimes painful patches.  Everywhere but my scalp, it was usually triggered by stress, and occasionally as a reaction to laundry detergent.  But in my scalp, the eczema was ever present.  It never went away, and was so bad that I would very often avoid wearing black or dark colors for no other reason than that I didn't want to spend the day brushing the flakes of dead skin off of my shoulders and back, because, well, gross.

I must say, after three months on CG, the eczema is gone.  I have a nice, healthy looking scalp, and for me, that's enough to keep that shampoo away.

So, bottom line is that, I don't know whether it fixes already damaged hair, but I do know that it fixes a damaged scalp.

As always, your thoughts and questions are welcome.