Scalp Help!

[Auryn]

Could any of you lovely ladies point me to some threads that offer help with either dry scalp flakies or dandruff. I'm honestly not sure which one I have. I've been using tea tree oil shampoo and conditioner for the last month and before that I was using Head and Shoulders for every other wash. I've not really seen any results.

Suggestions?

[viking_quest]

AVC rinses worked really well on my scalp flakes and now I barely have them anymore.

[Magicknthenight]

If your not sure what it is you should get it checked out
I thought i just had a bad case of dry scalp or dandruff on the left side of my head. turned out to be psoriasis
I'm not saying that's what you have..but knowing for sure would help you know how to fix it . Dandruff shampoos have never really worked for me either.

[Feye]

I have a flaky scalp (add extra shedding) whenever I use synthetic shampoos with SLS. Perhaps try a purely natural shampoo? I have recently gone back to Morrocco Method again, it has helped me in the past. There is also a shipment of Aubrey Organics coming in that I'm going to try.

Often flakes are not dandruff, I've been told. Everyone's scalp is different, but natural has worked for me.

[Aditi]

AVC rinses worked really well on my scalp flakes and now I barely have them anymore.

I totally agree, and Head and Shoulders are not a good option for solving dandruff problems as they never work.

[Silverlox]

My suggestion is that you first of all try to find out whether it is dryness flakes or dandruff, as the treatment is very different depending on which one it is.

With dryness, you need to moisturise your scalp and treat it very gently, like you would dry and stressed skin anywhere else on your body. First of all, you should avoid all harsh/drying shampoos and/or whatever else you put on your head. Baking soda would be bad, for instance.

If you have dandruff an anti-fungal shampoo or cream might help, but it's not going to do anything for you if your problem is due to dryness.

ETA-1: If your problem turns out to be a bad case of dandruff, "normal" store shampoos rarely ever help much. You'd need to go to a pharmacy/drug store to get a more "medical" shampoo. They are usually very efficient, but also rather costly, compare to normal 'poo.

ETA-2: You could perhaps check out the monistat thread. In the original thread on the old boards, a lot of people said it also helped with dry, itchy and flaky scalp.
There might also be good tips in the Article section about natural products.

[Katze]

Dandruff products never helped me. I struggled with flakes, crusts, itchiness, etc for YEARS, and I think coloring my hair made it worse too.

I also agree that you need to find out if it is dryness or something else.

Since coming to LHC I have found that:

1) regular sulfate shampooings (1x/week - 1x/month) help get my scalp clean and free of crusts and flakes, but;

2) my scalp needs gentle soothing moisture too. Honey (mostly in the form of SMTs, sometimes mixed with conditioner and sometimes as a scrub on its own) has helped a LOT. Because honey is antibacterial as well as humectant, it soothes my flakes and itching immediately.

3) vinegar rinses work, but not as well as good deep cleaning and good soothing honey treatments.

hth!