Dandruff Help, Please

[Lapwing]

There´s almost definitely something somewhere about this, but I can´t for the life of me find it. So, I´m posting this.

I´ve always had dandruff, but there seems to be more now. I can´t and don´t use shop bought shampoo, as I am quite allergic to a lot of stuff and so I wanted to
see if anyone had natural remedies to recommend. My hair is curly, so obviously dryer, but it gets deep conditioned once a week.

Any help would be much appreciated, thank you.

[akurah]

Do you know what specifically you are allergic to? Head and Shoulders now has a hypoallergenic line, so if you know exactly what it is, you can read the ingredients and see if that'll do.

My skin thinks it's allergic to every stupid thing (it's not actually an allergy despite using a similar mechanism of histamine, though, because the only result is itching and more rarely, minor hives) because of dermatographia urticaria, and it's what I use.

Depending on how you wash your hair, a herb preparation might do. Google says these herbs are good for dandruff (assuming you're not additionally allergic to some of those?):
https://www.herbal-supplement-resource.com/dandruff-remedies-herbs.html

Straight up skip the lemon in that one. Lemon can damage your hair, and damage your skin, from photosensitive reactions. (even if you are purposefully using lemon to lighten your hair, it's best to keep it off the scalp).

Insofar as flake removal, a technique called scritching might work:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=2185

[lapushka]

Have you ever gone to a dermatologist for the "dandruff". Is it itchy in any way? Red maybe? How are the flakes, pinpricks like regular dandruff or bigger skin flakes (like a few mm to bigger). I'm asking because dandruff and SD (seborrheic dermatitis) often get confused and if it is SD it might need the dermatologist. :flower:

Tea tree oil diluted into a carrier oil and massaged into the skin: you could try that.

If you have to wash your hair more than once a week due to oil, you do have oily hair and not dry hair. That's the thing, often dandruff is confused with dry skin. If you can leave your hair more than a week without washing, then it is dry!

[Lapwing]

Okay, thank you so much for the reply :) I´ll have to go have a look at the links.

[Lapwing]

Have you ever gone to a dermatologist for the "dandruff". Is it itchy in any way? Red maybe? How are the flakes, pinpricks like regular dandruff or bigger skin flakes (like a few mm to bigger). I'm asking because dandruff and SD (seborrheic dermatitis) often get confused and if it is SD it might need the dermatologist. :flower:

Tea tree oil diluted into a carrier oil and massaged into the skin: you could try that.

If you have to wash your hair more than once a week due to oil, you do have oily hair and not dry hair. That's the thing, often dandruff is confused with dry skin. If you can leave your hair more than a week without washing, then it is dry!

Haven´t gone to the dermatologist, and it is itchy. The flakes are small, so probably ( hopefully! ) not SD. My hair can go for a week and a bit without needing to be washed. So, dry, I think.
Thank you so much :)

[lapushka]

Haven´t gone to the dermatologist, and it is itchy. The flakes are small, so probably ( hopefully! ) not SD. My hair can go for a week and a bit without needing to be washed. So, dry, I think.
Thank you so much :)

That's the thing, regular dandruff is never itchy (not to my knowledge). If it itches, there's more going on.

You could try picking up the Nizoral 1%, it is OTC in the US, the 2% (which I use) is prescription strength, but it might help you figure out what direction to take this in.

[chiapommama]

I have an itchy head too I'm thinking it may be seborrheic dermatitis or eczema I've had it for as long as I can remember I already have eczema on my face head and shoulders clinical strength works well for me and also I have a sulfate free tea tree and peppermint shampoo that works well . Since you're doing natural stuff chamomile tea is pretty good for the itch.

[Obsidian]

I like neem powder for itchy skin. Its not really great for cleaning but it really helps clear up my SD when it acts up. Maybe neem followed by a wash with soapnuts?

[Lapwing]

I have an itchy head too I'm thinking it may be seborrheic dermatitis or eczema I've had it for as long as I can remember I already have eczema on my face head and shoulders clinical strength works well for me and also I have a sulfate free tea tree and peppermint shampoo that works well . Since you're doing natural stuff chamomile tea is pretty good for the itch.

Hmm...My brother has eczema, so maybe I do too? Interesting.

[Lapwing]

I like neem powder for itchy skin. Its not really great for cleaning but it really helps clear up my SD when it acts up. Maybe neem followed by a wash with soapnuts?

I´ll have to try that, thank you :)

[Ophidian]

You mention that your hair can go for a pretty long time without washes, but in my experience, sometimes hair and scalp can be on two different pages. My wavy hair tends towards dryness and is happy stretching washes a week or more but my scalp doesn't like being washed less than twice a week. I compromise with scalp-only washes. I struggled with dandruff for years and while I had some success managing it with diy solutions, I finally bit the bullet and used a conventional product which cleared up the problem. With your sensitivities I understand that may not be an option.

There's an interesting study out there on honey as a treatment for dandruff and SD that you might want to check out:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11485891

Here's the abstract:
"Honey has antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidants activities and has high nutrient value. In this study we investigated the potential use of topical application of crude honey in the management of seborrheic dermatitis and dandruff. Thirty patients with chronic seborrheic dermatitis of scalp, face and front of chest were entered for study. Twenty patients were males and 10 were females, their ages ranged between 15 and 60 years. The patients had scaling, itching and hair loss. The lesions were scaling macules, papules and dry white plaques with crust and fissures. The patients were asked to apply diluted crude honey (90% honey diluted in warm water) every other day on the lesions with gentle rubbing for 2-3 mins. Honey was left for 3 hr before gentle rinsing with warm water. The patients were followed daily for itching, scaling, hair loss and the lesions were examined. Treatment was continued for 4 weeks. The improved patients were included in a prophylactic phase, lasting six months. Half patients were treated with the topical honey once weekly and the other half served as control. All the patients responded markedly with application of honey. Itching was relieved and scaling was disappeared within one week. Skin lesions were healed and disappeared completely within 2 weeks. In addition, patients showed subjective improvement in hair loss. None of the patients ( 15 patients) treated with honey application once weekly for six months showed relapse while the 12/15 patients who had no prophylactic treatment with honey experienced a relapse of the lesions 2-4 months after stopping treatment. It might be concluded that crude honey could markedly improve seborrheic dermatitis and associated hair loss and prevent relapse when applied weekly."

[lapushka]

You mention that your hair can go for a pretty long time without washes, but in my experience, sometimes hair and scalp can be on two different pages. My wavy hair tends towards dryness and is happy stretching washes a week or more but my scalp doesn't like being washed less than twice a week. I compromise with scalp-only washes. I struggled with dandruff for years and while I had some success managing it with diy solutions, I finally bit the bullet and used a conventional product which cleared up the problem. With your sensitivities I understand that may not be an option.

I have oily scalp (has somewhat normalized in the last 5 years or so), but my wavy TBL+ hair is dry. I tend to wash my scalp with sulfates because that is what my SD needs but that dries out the lengths further, so I do WCC, which means I condition or mask twice in a row, and in between I ROO (use the rinse-out oil method). After my wash, I use the LOC/LCO method (all links in signature). It helps my hair *hugely*. Honestly it does. It keeps it happy and my scalp too.

No matter how drying your shampoo is, you can always moisturize your lengths more than once!

[AngleD]

In winter season we can face many hair problems like dandruff, frizzed hair, moisture problem etc so we suggest that you can use conditioner but always remember that do not use too much conditioner because Too Much Conditioner Damages Your Hair. Take a conditioner that contains natural ingredients and which suits best for your hair type. While conditioning your hair you can use lukewarm water to wash your hair. After wash Don’t rub your hair with the towel, as the friction can cause split ends and frizzy dryness. Instead, gently wrap the towel around your hair and squeeze

[Amelia777]

Dandruff can make you feel uncomfortable, I know it from my own experience. I looked for the proper products, but didn't have much result. What really worked for me was DIY hot oil treatment. I can recommend to check the article on https://therighthairstyles.com/hot-oil-treatments-how-to/ as it explains what exactly oil is better to choose in order to solve the issue. Personally I used lavender oil, it helped me a lot, but I know that almond and argan oils are also good for dandruff treatment. Hope it helps!

[wannabe-rusalka]

My scalp was a little itchy this week and I did a vinegar rinse and it seems to have taken down the itching significantly- I also did a hot oil treatment which probably also helped.