Washing regimes for hair with dandruff?

[EmelieAnna]

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]

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 But you asked and I deliver!

[Nadine <3]

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]

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]

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]

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 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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

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.