Jennifer Is Worried:
I have a medical condition called psoriasis on my scalp and find need to use medicated shampoos frequently to control the itching and build up of skin. Many of these shampoos contain ingredients like salicylic acid or tars (ie. Neutrogene T-Gel, Polytar, Dermarest are
the three most recent ones I’ve used). Plus, I often have to leave a product on my head for several minutes. Are these ingredients potentially damaging to my hair? Is there anything I can do to minimize the damage? I do condition my hair faithfully, but I’m worried about my hair closest to my scalp where the shampoo sits and I usually don’t condition.
The Right Brain Is Reassuring:
Jennifer, we’re sorry you’re experiencing the heartbreak of psoriasis but it sounds like you’ve found a good treatment program.
Medicated shampoos aren’t damaging to your hair, per se, but they can be a bit drying to hair and scalp. You can compensate for that drying effect by faithfully using a good conditioner. Ordinarily you shouldn’t over condition the hair close to your scalp because it’s less porous and doesn’t need as much conditioning. But in your case, because of the drying effects of the medicated shampoos you use, you need more conditioning there.
We’d recommend trying a light conditioner at the scalp and using a more intensive conditioner (leave in or rinse out) in the middle and at the ends.
Of course, it’s also important to avoid heat processing, coloring or relaxing treatments, and excessive brushing while you’re using these medicated shampoos.
We hope this helps, let us know how it turns out for you!
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