A thought about dandruff

[calmyogi]

What did people use for dandruff before head and shoulders (and shampoos like it). Did they just suffer or was dandruff not as common? What do you guys think?

[silvurgrin]

I don't know. I know it was quite common to wash or rinse hair with vinegar, which would probably help quite a bit. I don't know beyond that, though. It would be interesting to find out!

[Nadine <3]

I have no idea, but now I'm curious...

[molljo]

This article (http://www.denorex.com/blog/the-history-of-dandruff) is pretty brief, but it does go into some of the methods that are still used today (coal tar, vinegar, neem). I was surprised to learn that part of the origin of the word dandruff comes from words meaning scab and leper!

[endlessly]

Interesting thought. Personally, I don't feel dandruff was as big of an issue in the past as it is today mainly because people didn't used to wash their hair very frequently versus most people today will wash it at least once per day. When I was washing my hair twice a day (excessive, I know, but I grew up doing it, so I blame my family for the bad habit), I had terrible dandruff and my scalp itched constantly, but as soon as I switched to once a day, then once every other, and now once every few days, the health of my scalp has dramatically improved. Also, products in the past weren't nearly as harsh as they are now since we have a tendency of adding an excessive amount of chemical fillers to everything in order for a product to be cheaper.

[meteor]

Oh, people had treatments for thousands of years, for sure. First, just herbs and oils. Later, commercial scalp tonics were popular. Herbs that worked like astringents like neem leaves or witch hazel, vinegar, anti-microbial oils, honey, tar, etc... It would be different in different cultures of course, depending on availability.
Check out this interesting blog post on this: http://www.denorex.com/blog/the-history-of-dandruff

[meteor]

This article (http://www.denorex.com/blog/the-history-of-dandruff) is pretty brief, but it does go into some of the methods that are still used today (coal tar, vinegar, neem). I was surprised to learn that part of the origin of the word dandruff comes from words meaning scab and leper!

Oopsie, sorry, turns out I linked the same article as you, sorry, molljo! :oops:

[ChloeDharma]

As a teeneager I often had dandruff to varying extents. I looked to old books of folk remedies as being ancient I had never even heard of the internet at that point lol. I remember vinegar being suggested but also saw rosemary mentioned quite often. I tried a rosemary infusion as a inal rinse and never looked back, it cleared it straight away. The only problem was the darkening but at that point I was willing to take dark hair over flakes any day.

So anyway yes, there were many treatments used before head and shoulders.

[Lianna]

Washing everyday keeps me from having to use a medicated shampoo.

[ladonna]

Dandruff was probably like lice, meaning so many people has it so it was a normal thing.

[Teazel]

Funnily enough, I came across some hair advice from the '60s the other day that mentioned dandruff. Have a look here (http://collagecandy.blogspot.co.nz/2011/06/beauty-advice-booklets-from-1960s.html) and scroll down to "A Word About Dandruff".