A teen dandruff cry for help

[mallorykay13]

So I am 17, a junior in high school, and I am having dandruff for the first time in my life. I was my hair about every 3 or 4 days for a while now. I have oily hair (I AM a teen after all..) and I am absolutely at a loss. I have tried dandruff shampoos and they don't seem to help. Any suggestions?

[Savahead]

You could try to wash your hair more often, and make sure that you massage your scalp well as you wash to get rid of as much of the dry flaky skin cells as you can.

[Mairéad]

I don't know what your current wash routine, but my boyfriend was a slave to Head&Shoulders (it didn't even SORT of work for him) but I convinced him to get the Tea tree, neem, and rosemary shampoo bar from Chagrin Valley and he hasn't had a flake since then.

Now, that's not to say you couldn't try to make a rinse out of those herds and oils instead of getting the shampoo bar. Tea tree and rosemary are pretty easy to find in grocery stores or specialty shops in your area. Neem can usually be found at Indian groceries if you have access to them.

Doing an ACV rinse can also help dandruff and other scalp issues.

[mallorykay13]

With fingertips or should I use my nails? I've heard thats to irritating..

[Bunnysaur]

With your fingertips. Using your nails will scratch your scalp and probably hurt.
I second the neem and tea tree. If you're not into shampoo bars, GardenofWisdom.com sells neem oil for fairly cheap. I added a little to my shampoo and my hair is silky smooth and it works a zillion times better than H&S ever did. No itch, no flakes.

[ladyfey]

Have you tried Nizoral shampoo? Most people with dandruff have too much yeast on their scalps. Other dandruff shampoos don't touch the yeast, but the medication in Nizoral is a fungicide and kills off some of the yeast every time you use it. Also, as someone already said, washing more frequently is a good idea, perhaps every other day. You don't need to use the Nizoral every wash, especially after you get things under control. I use it every other wash and use regular shampoo in between.

[Tisiloves]

Tea tree oil works really well. Anything that functions as a fungicide usually helps. My dad's dandruff cleared up after 40+ years after he took anti-fungicide pills for his toes.