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EmelieAnna
February 16th, 2015, 12:13 PM
Hello!
As of a week ago, I finally went to the doctor to take action on my dandruff and started using a steroid solution to combat the flakes. Now, before this, I used a combination of WO and CWC, since I wanted to try to go several days without washing my hair, which it has benefited from. When I went to the doctors' I got the advice to schampoo every single day with Head and Shoulders, as well as conditioning. But I haven't done it everyday, because I'm not sure my hair or scalp would benefit because of it. On one hand it is supposed to condition the scalp, but on the other I'm unsure if it's really not tiring the sebum production out.

So, my question to you guys with dandruff:

What method works for you and how often do you use it?

Also, if you have any general tips I would be grateful if you shared them with me.

Regards, a first time "flaker"

Arctic
February 16th, 2015, 01:48 PM
What helped me the most in long term was founding a shampoo with piroctone olamine. I haven't really had to worry about flakes (excluded minor few times) during the several years I've been using that. I won't bother with brand names as the brand is only sold in my country. But piroctone olamine shampoos can be found from many brands.

Before finding my shampoo, I used Nizoral when needed and pre-shampoo vinegar soaks (just pour to scalp, let it sit 10 or so minutes, wash as normal. The latter method scared the heck out of me the first time I used it, as it seemed like my scalp would have become even more flakey, but apparently it was just the old flakes that the acid in vinegar had helped to exfoliate. Gross, I know :D But you asked and I deliver!

Nadine <3
February 16th, 2015, 02:14 PM
I have seborrheic dermatitis. When I'm having a flair up I wash every other day with Nizoral. Right now, my scalp feels good and I don't have flakes so I rotate my shampoos. I still wash every other day but I only use Nizoral every other wash. They rest of the time I use pantene. I can get away with frequent washing because I have a really greasy scalp (tried wash stretching and I just got itchy and very sad.) I just make up for the frequent shampooing by heavily conditioning with lots of oils.

Creagan
February 16th, 2015, 02:59 PM
I've been considering talking to my dermatologist about getting some shampoo with sulfa-drugs in it, since recent research has shown that sulfa-drugs inhibit the ability of the dandruff-causing fungus to feed itself. (And now shampoos exist with sulfa-drugs in them.)

But I haven't tried it myself yet.

gwenalyn
February 16th, 2015, 10:52 PM
Head & Shoulders worked for me. I never had a problem until I moved to the Pacific Northwest, when all of a sudden I had dandruff--it was odd. So I washed every day with H&S, like your doctor recommended. Once it cleared up, I started using it every other time I washed my hair, then every three, until I got to once a week (now once every 6 days), which was enough to maintain a flake-free scalp.

EmelieAnna
February 17th, 2015, 12:53 AM
What helped me the most in long term was founding a shampoo with piroctone olamine. I haven't really had to worry about flakes (excluded minor few times) during the several years I've been using that. I won't bother with brand names as the brand is only sold in my country. But piroctone olamine shampoos can be found from many brands.


Before finding my shampoo, I used Nizoral when needed and pre-shampoo vinegar soaks (just pour to scalp, let it sit 10 or so minutes, wash as normal. The latter method scared the heck out of me the first time I used it, as it seemed like my scalp would have become even more flakey, but apparently it was just the old flakes that the acid in vinegar had helped to exfoliate. Gross, I know :D But you asked and I deliver!


That vinegar soak sounds as if it could be a great exfoliator! I think I've seen some posts, in other threads about dandruff, where they've mentioned doing that. I think I'll try that when I'm done with my steroid solution treatment, as a mean to get rid of the flakes. Sounds gross but intriguing, haha ;) How often did you do it?

Arctic
February 17th, 2015, 05:15 AM
I can't remember anymore, probably few times in a short time period (like few times a week), then the flakes would stay off for a while, and when they started to come back, I redid the soak.

I think you can dilute the vinegar too, but I used it neat - that was long before I had found LHC. If your skin is sensitive, definitely dilute the vinegar!


I forgot to mention in my first post, that Tea Tree essential oil is known to help too.

Nique1202
February 17th, 2015, 07:31 AM
I've tried every dandruff shampoo on the market and they all did nothing for my scalp. What really helps with the appearance of mine is brushing and massaging my scalp thoroughly before and during a wash. I don't know if mine is just dry skin, though, because the massaging seems to dislodge the flakes so they go away with the rinse water, and they don't start appearing until nearly my next washday. I get a few in my fringe through the week, but they shake out pretty easily.

Catatafish
February 17th, 2015, 08:21 AM
My scalp gets flaky before my hair gets greasy. How long can you stretch your wash days if you have a flaky scalp without it being noticeable?

I've been thinking about buying a BBB to brush the flakes out, but it seems kinda gross to me. I suppose it would be handy to have for updo's anyways.

I wash my hair every 3rd day, alternating between Niazoral and Elave shampoo at the moment. My head often gets itchy after the 2nd day though.

Anje
February 17th, 2015, 08:31 AM
Did you get a diagnosis for what was causing the flakes? Seborrheic dermatitis? Infection? Eczema? Psoriasis? Dry skin? Obviously, different problems require different treatments. (My dry skin flakes wouldn't like daily washing with harsh detergents very much, for example.)

My guess is that you've got one of the forms (SD perhaps) that benefits from frequent, harsh washing. You might want to protect your length by coating it with some cheap conditioner while you shampoo the scalp, but if the doctor says to do it every day for a while, go ahead and try doing it every day. See if it helps. :flower:

Edited to add: Do try a dilute vinegar rinse on your scalp as the last thing. It doesn't have to be strong, but I check to make sure it tastes sour. It's a little thing that makes a world of difference for a lot of grouchy scalps, and the vinegar scent should fade as it dries. If you hate the smell too much, people have also had good luck with similar strength (barely sour) lemon juice or citric acid rinses.

Catatafish
February 17th, 2015, 09:16 PM
Did you get a diagnosis for what was causing the flakes? Seborrheic dermatitis? Infection? Eczema? Psoriasis? Dry skin? Obviously, different problems require different treatments. (My dry skin flakes wouldn't like daily washing with harsh detergents very much, for example.)

My guess is that you've got one of the forms (SD perhaps) that benefits from frequent, harsh washing. You might want to protect your length by coating it with some cheap conditioner while you shampoo the scalp, but if the doctor says to do it every day for a while, go ahead and try doing it every day. See if it helps. :flower:

Edited to add: Do try a dilute vinegar rinse on your scalp as the last thing. It doesn't have to be strong, but I check to make sure it tastes sour. It's a little thing that makes a world of difference for a lot of grouchy scalps, and the vinegar scent should fade as it dries. If you hate the smell too much, people have also had good luck with similar strength (barely sour) lemon juice or citric acid rinses.

I did go to the doctor before about it, but she couldn't see anything wrong with my scalp at the time. It must just be dry scalp or normal dandruff. It isn't really too severe, just annoying. I think that she said the treatment would be the same in any case. She prescribed some steroid stuff to put on my scalp, and I got some Niazoral. I used the steroid stuff for a while, and that helped, but I don't want to become overly reliant on it.

I'm guessing it is dry scalp rather than a fungal thing, because I also have dry skin, KP, and some patches of eczema on my hands and elbows. Also, my optician told me I have blepharitis, so I guess I just have wonky skin everywhere, haha! Luckily most people tell me I've nice face skin though, so I don't feel hard done by, just super itchy.

I suppose I'll just wash it every two or three days for the foreseeable future, and keep up with the Niazoral and new Elave shampoo.

I tried an ACV rinse before, but the smell drove me mental. It takes my hair half a day or so to dry, so I will not put up with it! I have some citric acid somewhere, so I think I'll try that next. Thanks for the tip, I'd forgotten about that. :)

PS. I've started eating a lot of milled flax seed and mackerel to try to get some more omega-3. If that improves the itchies I'll report back.

Alien Girl
February 18th, 2015, 03:11 AM
My boyfriend has dandruff. He said it wasn't so bad when he used to wash his hair every day during high school. Now he only washed every 2-3 days and his dandruff does kind of get noticeable and a little gross. I think his is genetic or he has some allergy, and he really needs to just shampoo more often. I've watched him wash his hair and honestly he's not very thorough with scrubbing and rinsing his scalp thoroughly and it leaves a bit of leftover dandruff in his hair. I think it's important for people with dandruff to brush their hair, massage their scalp, and also use a scalp massager before shampooing to help loosen the flakes, and also to rinse very very thoroughly especially after shampooing bc any left over shampoo can dry out the scalp. Boyfriend also uses Head and Shoulder (the one with almond oil). For me, it's a bit drying for some reason.. but then again I've been using diluted shampoo for a long time.

calmyogi
February 18th, 2015, 03:40 AM
Mine gets flaky about day two after washing and I have noticed that leaning over the bath tub and massaging my scalp seems to help. I have used biolage anti dandruff shampoo, and am currently using H and S once or twice a week. I started using h and s more to help my hair color fade than for dandruff even though I do suffer from it. The dandruff shampoos help the flakes, but the itch will still be there sometimes. I have used thyme, nettle, and rosemary infusions, and vinegar, they help, but were getting to be expensive abd time consuming. I honestly have just said screw it. I like to use natural things most of the time and since I'm not suffering from any visible damage to my scalp, and the itchiness can be helped with a little massaging I don't really care anymore. I mean in reality dandruff is our scalp sloughing off skin. Our whole body does this almost constantly it's just not as noticable. So I guess my biggest tool is just preening and massaging the visible flakes out when they get noticable.

EmelieAnna
February 19th, 2015, 10:30 AM
Thank you for all your answers! :o



My scalp gets flaky before my hair gets greasy. How long can you stretch your wash days if you have a flaky scalp without it being noticeable?


I've been thinking about buying a BBB to brush the flakes out, but it seems kinda gross to me. I suppose it would be handy to have for updo's anyways.


I wash my hair every 3rd day, alternating between Niazoral and Elave shampoo at the moment. My head often gets itchy after the 2nd day though.


I think I can stretch it to about the 3rd day or 2nd after wash. I'm at the end of my steroid treatment, so hopefully I can continue not washing my hair as often. Nor do I like to because I've never washed my hair so frequently as every day, and I can feel my hair getting drier now that I've washed it more frequently. :taz:



Did you get a diagnosis for what was causing the flakes? Seborrheic dermatitis? Infection? Eczema? Psoriasis? Dry skin? Obviously, different problems require different treatments. (My dry skin flakes wouldn't like daily washing with harsh detergents very much, for example.)


My guess is that you've got one of the forms (SD perhaps) that benefits from frequent, harsh washing. You might want to protect your length by coating it with some cheap conditioner while you shampoo the scalp, but if the doctor says to do it every day for a while, go ahead and try doing it every day. See if it helps. :flower:


Edited to add: Do try a dilute vinegar rinse on your scalp as the last thing. It doesn't have to be strong, but I check to make sure it tastes sour. It's a little thing that makes a world of difference for a lot of grouchy scalps, and the vinegar scent should fade as it dries. If you hate the smell too much, people have also had good luck with similar strength (barely sour) lemon juice or citric acid rinses.


Yes, well, he said it looked like seborrheic dermatitis so I guess I'll stick with CWC washing but more frequently. The thing is, that since I live in the north and it's freakishly cold during the winter here, and I have very fine hair, I can feel how my hair goes really brittle by washing it to much. Let's hope it's one of those things that passes after a while. Most probably I've gotten it because of stress and anxiety this autumn. I haven't gone so many days without washing it now, but maybe every other day is something to try? :) I guess that if it were to flare up again I can go and have another talk with my doctor. He really only just glanced at my scalp when I went there the first time.

EmelieAnna
March 17th, 2015, 01:40 AM
Update: It seems like the rashes (because they sort of look like it) in my scalp is connected to some dry, red and itchy spots on my face and my body. I'm going to see a skin specialist sometime soon, so hopefully I'll find out what it is by then. Is it any of you who has gotten something that is similar to my condition?