Treating, preventing dandruff

Dandruff, that itchy, persistent scalp problem can afflict you at any age, but is most common in young adults.

Most people assume that dandruff is due to a dry scalp, but the underlying problem is a skin fungus, called Malassezia furfur that lives naturally on the skin’s surface.

Our skin, including that on the scalp, continuously sheds old dead cells and manufactures their replacements in an orderly manner every 28 days or so. This skin fungus feeds on the natural oils of the scalp and secretes by-products that irritate the scalp.

The scalp reacts to this irritation by increasing the number and rate at which the skin cells are shed. They are shed in a disorderly manner and in a much shorter period of time — every one to three days.

These cells are not dead before leaving the scalp and are shed as large clumps of hundreds or even thousands of cells giving the dandruff ‘flakes’.

Because the fungus feeds on the natural oils of the skin, it thrives most on skin areas with plenty of the oil producing glands. These include the scalp, face and upper part of the body.

Every one’s tolerance to this fungus varies and the lower it is for you, the more likely you are to have dandruff. Flaking is more noticeable during cold weather because our skins tend to be drier then and we spend more time indoors in heated rooms that dry our scalps more.

Other factors that can cause dandruff are stress, too much sugar, starches and fat in your diet, hormones, excessively oily skin, excessive use of hair sprays, hot hair curlers or curling irons and one’s genes.

Shampoo

There is no known "official" cure for dandruff because the dandruff causing fungus is a guest of nature on our scalps and so cannot be completely eliminated.

What you need is to find the right product and continue to use it if it is successful at controlling your dandruff.

For example, shampoos that reduce the amount of fungus on the scalp or shampoos with agents that slow down the skin cell production without acting directly on the fungus such as Coal-Tar which clears scales from the scalp and hair, relieves itching and inflammation and slows down the rate of skin cell growth to a more normal level.

Also being antiseptic, it will fight any infection in the damaged skin. Other shampoos contain Sulphur and Salicylic acid which break the bonds that hold the skin cells together on the uppermost layer of the scalp so that when the top layer of cells is shed, they are separate rather than in clumps.

Always select the mildest shampoo possible to avoid drying the scalp too much, which makes the flaking worse and causes the scalp to secrete more oil.

Thorough cleansing of the scalp and the hair will keep dandruff flakes out of sight for up to three days before you have to shampoo again because it takes the scalp up to three days before it can generate a new batch of flakes.

Boric acid is a very old remedy for treating dandruff.

Moisten some boric acid with a little water and rub well into the scalp, and then rinse out thoroughly with warm water just before you shampoo your hair.

Diet

Include plenty of B vitamins in your diet; yeast and raw wheat germ are two excellent sources particularly of vitamin B6.

Eggs and cabbage also provide vitamin B6 in addition to supplying sulphur that is nature’s beauty mineral for the scalp.

The good fats found in nuts and flax seed also promote healthy scalps.

Conceal scales on the scalp by choosing a hairstyle that covers the hairline and has no parting and avoid wearing dark coloured clothing on which scales will show up.

Massage the scalp gently when you wash your hair, and rinse thoroughly before drying.

Brush your scalp carefully to loosen scales before shampooing without scrapping the scalp.

Avoid hair products that contain alcohol, which dries out the scalp.

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