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pwettyfleur
February 6th, 2015, 02:44 AM
Hi!
So in the last few months my head has got really really dry and ichy, with a bunch of small white flakes constantly in my hair. I can wash my hair and wash them all out and then as soon as it's air dry my roots are full of them. I oil my hair every other week as its such a pain and most of the itching is gone when the oil is sitting but as soon as I wash it out all hell breaks loose and its really itchy on the top of my head and on my hair line. Ive recently moved to a much colder, dryer climate with 'soft' water and my hair HATES it! I had to go back to cones to get hair that didnt feel like straw and stick to everything like velcro. My hair has also been shedding insanely, when I comb my hair over a handfull of hair falls out (this can happen several times a day, it I finger comb my hair there will be hair wrapped around my fingers). I practice good combing techniques, im very gentle with it and oil the length of my hair regularily. It also doesn't seem to get greasy, even after not washing/wetting my hair for a couple of weeks, unless I oil my roots. I've just been washing it so stop it smelling really. (I used to wash it every 4-6 days before I moved)
Does anyone know what I could do to stop the flakes or shedding? As I recently moved to Norway I can't see a doctor yet as I'm still waiting on my citizen number to be able to register with one.

Agnieszka
February 6th, 2015, 05:52 AM
If I would be in your situation I would just use Nizoral or Head and Shoulders.

lapushka
February 6th, 2015, 06:01 AM
If oil is no good, chances are you're not suffering from dryness and "regular" flakes but from something called seborrheic dermatitis. You need a medicated shampoo for that, for example Nizoral. I have SD, have had it since I was young and Nizoral is a Godsend.

yogagirl
February 6th, 2015, 06:18 AM
My scalp does that (itchiness, dandruff, and increased shedding) when I don't wash often enough. I have to wash every 3-4 days with a sulfate shampoo. I have SD and this is pretty common with SD scalp. When mine gets out of hand, washing with H&S a few times helps. After 1-2 weeks of that, I can usually go back to only using H&S every other or every 3rd wash. I don't know if you have SD, but I think H&S would be a cheap fix and worth a try for you.

Mya
February 6th, 2015, 06:29 AM
Most of that sounds exactly like what used to happen to my mom. Itching and flakes and dry scalp, especially in the crown area and the hairline area, and the itching calmed down only if she put baby oil on her scalp. Also, her scalp and hair seemed to drink oil... If I used as much oil as she used, my hair would be a grease ball. She too never gets greasy hair, in fact she washes it very rarely.

She also has very tangly hair, but it's because she has fine hair and some of her length is damaged by highlights. I don't know if that can apply to you. Are you sure it's shedding and not broken hairs? Anyway, it sounds normal that you hair is shedding since you are having scalp problems.

Her scalp doesn't itch anymore now (after having that problem for years) because she uses delicate shampoos she buys at the organic food store. She has many less (and much smaller, dust like) flakes, and a lot of her hair is growing back. She now puts only aloe vera gel and baby oil on her hair, other than organic shampoo. I think most of her scalp problems were caused by the fact she went to a salon for years.

My advice is to use delicate organic shampoos and to avoid salons (where they use very aggressive shampoos) and normal shampoos. You may want to try and add some oil to your organic shampoo, but I have no experience with that. You may also want to try and drink more.

Anje
February 6th, 2015, 07:17 AM
It's possible you have seborrheic dermatitis, but I tend to think that that's associated with larger greasy flakes. I get little tiny ones when my scalp is dry, myself. (Been fighting that lately, but no itch.) SD scalps tend to need to get harsh washing to keep oil to a minimum and get worse with lack of washing. Rule this out first, if you can. Treating it like a dry scalp will make it very angry.

Is there any chance you're allergic to your shampoo? A number of people do have troubles with sulfates being extremely irritating to them as well as drying.

For my dry scalp, I've smeared oil on for a few hours, washed it out, and made sure my scalp got plenty of conditioner on it. (Note that some people get lots of shedding if they get conditioner on their scalps. I know that I don't.) It practically acts like rinse-off lotion. Actually, if you have a few hours to look gross, putting lotion on a dry scalp for a few hours before washing might do the trick.

Anje
February 6th, 2015, 07:17 AM
It's possible you have seborrheic dermatitis, but I tend to think that that's associated with larger greasy flakes. I get little tiny ones when my scalp is dry, myself. (Been fighting that lately, but no itch.) SD scalps tend to need to get harsh washing to keep oil to a minimum and get worse with lack of washing. Rule this out first, if you can. Treating it like a dry scalp will make it very angry.

Is there any chance you're allergic to your shampoo? A number of people do have troubles with sulfates being extremely irritating to them as well as drying.

For my dry scalp, I've smeared oil on for a few hours, washed it out, and made sure my scalp got plenty of conditioner on it. (Note that some people get lots of shedding if they get conditioner on their scalps. I know that I don't.) It practically acts like rinse-off lotion. Actually, if you have a few hours to look gross, putting lotion on a dry scalp for a few hours before washing might do the trick.

pwettyfleur
February 6th, 2015, 07:39 AM
My scalp is dry to the touch and the flakes are really tiny and look more like white dust. Oiling worked really really well on the sides and back of my head but my crown and hair line are being mega stubborn. I have gotten really annoyed with the bits of my hair line and just used my intensive face cream and that works for 5 minutes and doesnt leave my hair greasy at all. My hair gets really really rough and rebellious and tangly if I don't use cones and loads of oil on the lengths. I do wonder if wearing a hat everytime I leave the house might be contributing to the dryness or if it might just be the cold. I did stop dying my hair about 6 months ago but i would have thought that would help rather than cause this.