Dandruff

Haleskarth

I have very very thick curly hair. "What do you mean Haleskarth?" you say? I mean like... I can grow an afro.. and not like... A jonas brother poof of curls.. I mean like a dense sphere of hair, the kind you look at and wonder exactly how much shit I can fit in it before it collapses. The answer? 200 color pencils. It could of held more, we ran out.

Normally I dont grow it out, I dont like the whole afro thing(especially on a skinny 6 foot white boy). But I can't grow my hair even slightly long these days because of my dandruff. I keep my hair at like.. 3/8ths of an inch, because once it starts getting longer the shit starts to build up, then my scalp gets itchy, and my hair feels greasy.. and you know... It's just generally gross.

I reckon that because my hair is so damn think, the dandruff doesn't really leave the scalp, or it does but very slowly. Most people looking at my hair cant even tell I have dandruff unless I start to scratch or something that disturbs it. When I do scratch, I get like finger nails full of the stuff.

Its there, and there's a lot of it.

I shave my head from time to time. Mainly because I like to, but also because it helps a bit.
But when I do, it's like a layer. I can literally scrap skin off of my head when I first shave, and I can do it for like 20 minutes in the shower before it finally dies down.

And you'd think "oh that's probably from like months of build up". No. No it's not. I can shave my head one week, and shave it again the next, and its there again.

Halp?

Figgy

Is this only during certain seasons, happening more in the colder months?

Have you tried dandruff shampoos (both medicated and none)?

And what you probably are dreading someone will say: you might just not be able to grow your hair out that long any more. If your scalp is drying out and shampooing/conditioning isn't preventing the dandruff, you might be out of luck.

Haleskarth

Well, I NEVER grew my hair out really long. Once or twice I've had the afro(for prom, and on a bet, the bet ended in me getting heatstroke one day while biking because my hair kept the heat in :P)

I don't know about the months.
I've never really compared it between the two.
But it's bad all year round.

I've only really tried like head and shoulders, which did absolutely nothing. Normal shampoos also do nothing, as far as I know, but I've never looked for any specific uality of shampoo.

It's been this way as long as I can remember, and I wouldn't say my scalp is dry. If anything my scalp is like.. oily.

(I'm 20)

romanqwerty

How often do you wash your hair?

I used to occasionally get dandruff and now that i wash my hair nearly every day, i have none.

Haleskarth

Once a day, sometimes there will be a break of a day or two, if I leave the house and couch hop or something for a few days.

When I get a good string of wash wash wash wash wash, it does lessen slightly, but only slightly. In no way anywhere near "gone"

Edgie

Try different anti-dandruff shampoos. While Head and Shoulders may not work, Selsun (sp?) Blue or some other varient might. Everyone's different.

Haleskarth

In say the event that the dandruff doesn't go away..
Is there anything that'll help with the oily/greasey-ness?

I've never really looked into that.

Rook

T-Gel and Nizoral are other stronger anti-dandruff shampoos you can try. Personally I found that T-Gel helps clear things up quite well. You may also want to check in with a doctor to see if you've actually got a skin condition causing this, rather than just being a natural build up.

As to keeping hair looking healthy and shiny, it's probably worth looking into salon style shampoos such as Redken and the million and one hair treatments you can get with em and try them out.

Buttcleft

It could be Psoriasis.

Especially if its as bad as you are implying.

and if it is, anti-dandruff shampoo's are not really going to do anything for you.

I'd suggest talking to your doctor and possibly getting a referral to a dermatologist to see if its just regular old dandruff or Psoriasis

Talkc

Rook wrote: »

T-Gel and Nizoral are other stronger anti-dandruff shampoos you can try. Personally I found that T-Gel helps clear things up quite well. You may also want to check in with a doctor to see if you've actually got a skin condition causing this, rather than just being a natural build up.

As to keeping hair looking healthy and shiny, it's probably worth looking into salon style shampoos such as Redken and the million and one hair treatments you can get with em and try them out.

What he said.

T-gel is what i use... Works wonders.



Also.. hope to god its not psoriasis. I have that really bad. Its a pain to treat everyday, and it spreads like wildfire.. and having it anywhere on your head is never good.

Iruka

T-gel is very helpful, and it will help with an itchy/Oily scalp. But go talk to a dermatologist if you have the chance. If its as bad as you describe then its worth your time. There may be a prescription shampoo that can help you.

Is you're hair tight to your scalp, and if so are you combing it out? If you have an afro, even a short one, it will lock up if you don't pick it out. even with washing, you have to jam a comb in there and get the kinks out. And Oil+kinky hair+no combing = Dreads. Just kneading it with your fingers will not get dandruff out of truly nappy hair.

If you shave it and you scalp is fine (not itchy, not oily, not flaking) I'd consider evaluating those habits.

Haleskarth

I do comb it out, to make sure it doesn't(Plus it makes my hair feel so soft ). Keep in mind that right now my hair is probably half an inch, so it's nowhere near afro status. But even like doing this it builds up.
When I shave it, my scalp is fine after I immediately wash it. But it starts up again pretty damn quick.

Thanks for all the advice, I'll certainly give this T-gel stuff a lookie.

I have to go to the doctor about a plantars wart anyway >.> Good time to bring this up I suppose.

Nappuccino

I used to get dandruff and thought it was just because of my scalp but, as it turns out, the shampoo i was using was the root cause of it. I switched to a dandruff shampoo and lost the dandruff and decided to go back to regular shampoos after the dandruff bottle was empty. I couldn't remember what I had gotten before and bought something that seemed decent and I haven't had any problems with it at all.

This was towards the end of my freshman year at college and when i retuned back home for summer, my mom still had some of my old stuff lying around and I decided to finish that bottle off. wouldn't you know it? my dandruff came back.

Long story short, it might just be what you're currently using- try to pick up some small bottles of other brands.

Elin

Dandruff faqs