dandruff advice, please! :)

[killashark]

my boyfriend likes to shave his head (i think he uses a 1 at the barbershop) and that seems to keep his scalp from flaking. problem is, when he goes more than 2 weeks without a haircut, he starts getting flakes! now i really don't think that should be happening at all. well i used to work at trade secret so i was really big on their products, and ended up getting him some Redken dandruff shampoo. It seemed to work for awile but when it stopped, I thought maybe he should use conditioner. For me, I would never use conditioner on my scalp but I didn't know what to do. That's when I started visiting LHC. I love the home remedies because my physiology teacher is always saying, "never put something ON your body that you wouldn't eat a teaspoon of." Now I would NEVER eat a teaspoon of Biolage or Redken, lol. So I'm wondering if you know any good remedies for his scalp? Thanks so much!

[yogachic]

My husband has the same problem, I think he has porriasis, wow I cant spell that, LOL, he shaves his head because of it too.
I had told him about olive oil and that it will help, I applied it to this scalp, put a bag on his head(oh he hated that) and left it on for 30 min ( or as long as a guy will tolerate it hee hee), this kept it away. But it needs to be done every week or so, to keep the good results. My husband won't keep up with it, so now he shaved his head again.

[Mahars]

You may want to try jojoba oil with a couple drops of tea tree oil and/or rosemary and peppermint. Even jojoba oil alone works for this, just not quite as well. The essential oils kill fungus and stimulate circulation and the jojoba dissolves the flakes and excess sebum build-up. Jojoba can do this because it is the closest oil to human sebum.

Massage a little into his scalp for a few minutes and then leave it on overnight. Don't worry, if you just use a little, it will soak in and not stain the pillow case.

I do this once/week and it keeps my flakes and itchies at bay.

[suicides_eve]

my dbf get this too, but i think alot of it could be sun burn, he works out side alot and isn't fond of wearing a hat, I've tried telling him that you can still get sun burn in the winter but he doesn't listen..

[Kirin]

is it dandruff, or dry irritated scalp? Most people who think they have dandruff because of "white flakes" actually dont have dandruff.

Clinical dandruff is usually yellowy, somewhat oily, and clumpy, not white snowflakes. White flakes are usually irritated scalp/dry scalp.

Oddly dandruff shampoos have been reported in some cases to make the problem WORSE.

My husband is very "snowy" on his shoulders, to combat it we use a mild shampoo, that i mix and shake up with a drop each of Tea tree oil, olive oil, and vegetable glycerine. Its primarily cleared him all up, but it will return if he switches conditioners or uses too much hair gel.

[sibylla]

I think a vinegar rinse is the best. Also he should try to use only water (WO) instead of any poo.

[Xanthippe]

One thing, is it better or worse after he washes his head? If it's worse, then maybe the shampoo is too drying and he'd be better off going Water Only or diluting it to see if it helps.

Another idea, a brown sugar scalp scrub makes my scalp feel better (you basically mix brown sugar and conditioner and then massage it into just the scalp. The sugar will dissolve while it exfoliates, which is what I'm guessing the shaving is doing to help.)

[khyricat]

My cassia poo bar cured me, but a lot depends on what the causes are. there is a lot of good advice in the other posts.

Amie

[Saldana]

I know it's not exactly something one might eat a spoonful of, but a longhair I spoke with last weekend SWEARS by Listerine rinses. Yep - she shampoos and conditions as usual, then pours Listerine over her scalp, massages it a bit, then rinses it out. She says she's been doing it for a long time, and it helps keep her scalp healthy and the dandruff at bay.

So maybe he could try swabbing his head with Listerine?

I'm just sayin'....

[Advaya]

Can you get the white flakes from having an over production of oil? My hair is FAR from dry but I get very thick flakes, if I drag my nails through it my hair I can pick it out of my nails. And it itches. And I have black hair.

I have access to high quality jojobo oil and olive oil, my partner works in an organic co-op, but I'm not sure how that will work out on already oily hair.

My hair is doing TONS better since I switched to homemade shampoo though. If I run out and use my old (JASON) it's instantly back to an oil-fest.

If it matters, my skin is oily too but I find it tolerable for the most part as my skin is soooo soft and rarely breaks out (hormonal related only). It's just my hair is unpresentable when it's as oily as it gets when I wash with normal shampoo. And the flakes!!!

[ATrixie]

I second trying 'water only' - a friend's husband does this now & has great hair & scalp... (he has very short hair too..)

when going off the shampoo there may be a 'transition' period, but then scalp may really improve... (a relative who had something weird on his scalp, rash-like or such, went to 'no washing at all' - everyone thought he was crazy, but it cured his scalp!)

I used to get a rashy/itchy thing too, when using Head & Shoulders, 1 week or more after washing.. & Sis still gets terrible dandruff flakes 1 week or more after washing with Head & Shoulders... For me, no more of that since I haven't used any shampoo for months!!
Daily 'preening' - massage of scalp is necessary to maintain a good scalp now.. some 'tiny flakes' do occur otherwise - now I just massage/scritch/preen it off.. (& even at its worst still looks much better than Sis's dandruff flakes a week or more after using H&S...)

[Anlbe]

By boyfriend suffers from white flakes. It took us ages and alot of expensive shampoos to realise that he doesn't have dandruff just a very sensitive scalp. So now he uses very gentle sulphate free shampoo and tries to wash his hair as little as often, about twice a week. Ideally it would be less but that's just not feasible.

[Euphony]

My husband had the same problem, I kept telling him it was probably the sulfate shampoos he was using, but couldn't fathom being able to get his hair clean by using hair soap like I do. I kept using hair soap, other people were raving over the hair soap and coming back for more and saying how it cleared up their itchies. He still couldn't fathom it would work for him. Finally last Christmas we went to his parents house for a few days and the only shampoo they had was Suave - he didn't want to use it so he grabbed my hair soap. He hasn't turned back! Ridding his scalp diet of the sulfates took about a week to totally clear up the itchy flakes, now his "dandruff" is totally gone.

[comicalcupcake]

I have been having a hard time with white flakes too. There are more of them since I went to CO several months ago. My hair needs to be washed about a day earlier on CO, but I can still make it every 3-4 days--definitely don't have greasy hair. I also have dry skin.

I thought it might be SD, so I bought several ingredients to see if they would help. First I mixed coconut oil, aloe gel, honey, tea tree oil, oregano extract, pau d'arco extract, and the contents of a chamomile tea bag. The mixture did not smell very good. I used too much tea tree oil (very little is needed to have an effect!). The coconut oil made everything way too oily to get rid of with just conditioner. It also didn't mix with the other ingredients, water and oil being incompatible (d'oh!). The chamomile chunks made nice scrubbies, but I had a hard time getting it all out of my hair--had to use a lice comb. I left this mixture on for a few hours. Verdict? It helped a slight bit.

Then I tried equal parts raw honey, aloe gel, and conditioner. It felt very nice on my hair but only helped a little. I had a hard time spreading it because I did not wet my hair first.

Then I tried just coconut and tea tree oil on a wetted scalp. First, I used way too much (maybe 3 T) and it's still in my hair! I slept on an old towel with the mixture in my hair and washed with castile soap and did a 1/10 vinegar rinse. I had to wash 4 times, and I could tell it wasn't all out but I had to get out of the shower. It helped the flakies significantly more than the other experiments. My hair looked kind of beachy wavy, like it had gel or mousse in it. The second day, it looked totally greasy, but the brush went right through it.

I also tried a mix of all the ingredients in the first paragraph, tweaked the ratios to use less tea tree (1/2 t.), fewer chamomile flowers (about 1/3 a tea bag). I wetted my hair first. I thickened the mixture with corn starch, which really helped me spread it. I left this on for a few hours and did a CO wash. It kept the flakes at bay for a couple of days, but didn't completely get out the coconut oil from the previous experiment! But three days later, my ends are dry while my length is greasy and my scalp is itchy again!

If you're interested in why you should leave the coconut oil on all night, basically it's made of lots of triglycerides, which are fats composed of a glycerin "branch" with three fatty acid "twigs" on each one. When exposed to natural sebum, the acids break off, leaving the humectant and softening glycerin with three anti-fungal/anti-microbial acids. You have to leave the oil on for a while to get that benefit.

[Alaskanheart]

Saldana, I used the listerine two times now with my washes, It actually seems to work better than anything else I have tried and my dandruff /dry scalp/itches/flakes are at least 75% less than they were prior.

I do make sure my hair is well protected, because I fear of drying, I just tie a plastic bag around my length like a pony tail while I massage the stuff in, so far it hasn't seemed to dry my hair at all.

Sorry for the hijack...

I also think that since your Boyfriend doesnt have much hair then he probabley doesn't need shampoo at all, and going WO will probabley clear the problem up.

[Roxio]

I find that castor oil works great for me. I use it everytime I get flakes, which is usually after color treating my hair. It is very heavy, but never fails to work.

[joyinc]

is it dandruff, or dry irritated scalp? Most people who think they have dandruff because of "white flakes" actually dont have dandruff.

Clinical dandruff is usually yellowy, somewhat oily, and clumpy, not white snowflakes. White flakes are usually irritated scalp/dry scalp.

Oddly dandruff shampoos have been reported in some cases to make the problem WORSE.

My husband is very "snowy" on his shoulders, to combat it we use a mild shampoo, that i mix and shake up with a drop each of Tea tree oil, olive oil, and vegetable glycerine. Its primarily cleared him all up, but it will return if he switches conditioners or uses too much hair gel.
i'm glad that i read this, i thought i was just starting to develop dandruff, but it sounds more like just an irritated scalp. i've tried everything like oils and tea tree and they seem to be making my problem worse. Is there anything else I can do? I tried WO as well and it was horrid. i'm debating on just getting some special shampoo :(

[killashark]

You guys are so helpful! Well I've tried massaging his scalp with olive oil but there was no way he'd let me bring a plastic bag near his head (I tried). It seemed to work but it just comes back after a few days and for a guy, olive oil before every shower is just too high maintanence (he does love the massage though, lol). But I just ordered some shampoo bars from Chagrin Valley (I'm so exited for my orders to arrive) and the website also explained the difference between dandruff and flakes. But what I noticed tonight is now the flakes are so thick that he's scratching like crazy and it's actually exposing raw skin! :( My poor baby. But I'm gunna keep up with the olive oil for a little longer since it does help a little...Just until my bars arrive.

I also read that mixing crushed aspirin helps exfoliate and adding honey to it (because of the antibacterial properties). What do you think? He likes the listerine idea but true, I still want to go by the "don't use it if you wouldn't eat it" rule.

Check out Chagrin Valley shampoo bars! They've got so many to choose from and even help you decide what to use based on hair/scalp type. Just remember that everyone's scalp is different. They also have REAL whipped body butter (have you seen the other ones that claim to be "whipped" but are actually pretty thick? ugh), dog shampoo, bath melts, etc. :) I'll keep you guys updated and again, thanks so much for the help!

[MAO]

I have had dandruff pretty much all my life:mad: I don't remember ever NOT having it. Anyways, after hennaing my hair a couple of times (like twice in one month) I was extremely elated to find that my dandruff was MIA!! :cheese:YAY!! However I made the mistake of using a coconut/rosemary oil mix on my hair and scalp as an overnight treatment a couple of weeks later and holy cow I am sorry I did! My dandruff is back with a vengeance:cry:. This really surprised me b/c from what I understand coconut oil is supposed to be a good antibacterial/fungal and moisturizing so imagine my surprise! It took a couple of washes to get the oil out and I've been scritching like 2x a day trying to get all the flakes off my scalp. Parting my hairs, my scalp looks like a dry desert underneath! SO I did another henna last night on clean damp hair and slept with it on for like 7 hours. No itchies so far and no flakes have dared to show themselves yet today and the day is almost over. I am praying it doesn't come back!!:pray: Anyone else have their dandruff disappear after a henna? Did it come back?

[Darkhorse1]

I would see a doctor before using anything here. Without really knowing from a medical professional, you can be doing more harm than good.

I had white flakes and crusty, scaley stuff on my scalp, and my doctor refered me to a dermatologist, and it's dandruff. Dandruff can come from white flakes/crusty stuff, scaley stuff to yellowish oily flakes. There are three stages of dandruff.

Dandruff is a fungus that lives under the scalp. While herbal remedies can reduce the signs of dandruff, there are multiple things to can use to kill the fungus. Head and Shoulders is usually the first shampoo people use--remember, any dandruff shampoo you MUST LEAVE ON for several minutes. A pharmasist explained that it needs to penetrate beneath the scalp.

Other dandruff shampoos use different products, from pine tar, coal tar to zinc pyro-something to ketozanoate(I totally spelled that wrong).

I've been using a variety of dandruff shampoos and found Nizoral the most effective. The downside is, Nizoral STINKS ---better than Selsun Blue though--and has a weird side effect of a really itchy scalp--the pharmasist explained that is the medication killing the fungus.

I just bought an 'intense' head and shoulders shampoo and will use it in three days--I already used a zinc based shampoo so I use the dandruff ones every other time. Nizoral worked the best, but the itching after was so bad, I'd like to see if I can find something that doesn't cause itching.

Speak to a pharmasist if you can't see a doctor and they can help direct you towards the right product. Not all herbal/natural remedies can cure certain problems and it's best to see a medical health care professional before addressing a problem before it's diagnosed.

I know some people can get an irritation to shaving, so it could be from that too.