Alejandra’s itchy inquiry: I cannot get rid of my dandruff and itchy scalp. I know we are all different but do you know of dandruff shampoos that work or other ways of dealing with dandruff. Thank you!!!
The Right Brain’s scratchy reply:
Dandruff is caused by a yeast-like fungus known as malassezia that makes your scalp flake and itch. There are a variety of solutions but they don’t always work equally well for everyone so you may need to try several products before you find the one that’s right for you. Here’s a list of some dandruff destroyers that you might want to check.
Zinc pyrithione
Antifungal agent found in Selsun Salon and Head and Shoulder. Effective against dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis.
Coal Tar
As the name suggests, this active ingredient comes from the coal manufacturing process and can be found in Neutrogena T/Gel. Treats dandruff, seborrheic dermatitis and psoriasis by reducing cell turnover.
Salicylic acid
This hydroxy acid helps eliminate flakes but may require a conditioner to prevent your scalp from becoming overly dry. Can be found in Ionil T.
Selenium sulfide
Another chemical that reduces cell turnover and fights malassezia. May discolor blonde, gray or chemically colored hair. Found in Selsun Blue.
Ketoconazole
Formerly available only be prescription, this antifungal drug fights the cause of dandruff. Found in Nizoral.
Prescription drugs
If none of these over the counter dandruff shampoos work for you, ask your doctor for prescription dandruff fighters like Loprox or steroid lotions.
Copper brushes
The Left Brain bashed using copper brushes to stop dandruff in an earlier post because there have been no studies that we could find that support that. Nonetheless, a lot of people swear that it works for them.
New technology
Future research may bring us better ways. Like the dandruff shampoo you can drink.
The Beauty Brains bottom line
The key is to experiment find what works for you. Also, remember that some treatments may become less effective over time so you might want to alternate treatments for the best efficacy. (By way, the drugs we listed are all available in the US. If you’re in another country you may find that different treatments are an option; for example, Octopyrox is used in the EU.)
What do YOU think? What dandruff treatment have worked for you? Leave a comment and share your scratchy solutions with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.
Reference:
The Mayo Clinic
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{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Will an anti-fungal drug like Diflucan provide any results?
TEA TREE OIL!! You can buy a bottle from any drug store in the pharmacy section. It has a myriad of functions (google it!) but works great when added with your shampoo to stop dandruff. It is an anti-fungal and antiseptic, yet is very soothing to your skin. It works WONDERS on SO many things- from clearing athlete’s foot to acne! Mix it gradually into your shampoo to find a concentration that works for for you. Also, you can make a potent scalp mask by mixing olive oil and Tea Tree Oil.
Jason Naturals makes a Tea Tree Oil shampoo and conditioner that I personally love. It it formulated with Tea Tree Oil and other ingredients to calm scalp irritation. Health food stores and Walmart stores carry it. See their site http://www.jason-natural.com . On their site they actually have an anti-dandruff shampoo that has Tea Tree Oil and sulfur, among things, and may be even more effective. I’ve never seen it in stores, so it may be an online buy only.
Tea Tree Oil is amazing- It will naturally normalize your scalp, won’t fry your hair, and will care for your sensitive scalp skin. TRY IT!!
You dont mention the climbazole. Because here in our country some anti-dandruff shampoos, conditioners, gels and lotions uses that.
There may be a simpler solution. If you wash your hair before bedtime and go to bed with a big wet ponytail, you may be creating a damp environment on your scalp which allows the normally small amount of fungus on everyone’s scalp to grow out of control. Try blow drying your hair first, or move your pony tail to the back or side on some nights. That might do the trick!
Good advice. On a side note, the jpg you used is from a pretty funny cartoon called Happy Tree Friends. They are only 1-2 minutes long and start out as cute characters playing, then something goes horribly wrong and most of them end up getting dismembered.
I have to second Kristen’s tea tree oil recommendation. I also use Jason’s body lotion with tea tree oil on my scalp before bed and wash in the morning.
I’ve also found that Aveda’s scalp line is absolutely incredible.
I had horrible dandruff and psoriasis all my life and using a combination of Jason’s and Aveda’s has seriously changed my life. I can actually wear my hair down and not be constantly worried about the white flakes on my shoulder or the lesions at my scalp line.
The ONLY thing that has EVER worked for me is just salt scrubs — mechanically scrubbing the stuff up and washing it away. Sure, they don’t treat “the disease,” but while you’re looking for a cure (which I often doubt exists), at least you can wear black turtlenecks or French braids when you feel like it.
Get coconut oil, the stuff that is barely a solid at room temperature. Take a fat tablespoon of it when it’s in solid form (you can stick it in the fridge to manage this if your house is warm enough that the oil liquefies on you), and pour in about three tablespoons of plain table salt one at a time. Moosh the salt into the oil with a spoon, and just keep pouring salt into it bit by bit until it’s pretty grainy but still creamy enough for you to pick up conveniently with your fingertips. The proportions don’t have to be exact.
Don’t use sea salt — the grains are too large and jaggedy and could scratch your scalp.
Get into the shower, wet your hair thoroughly, and then glop this stuff by bits and dribs right down to the roots of your hair, right up against your scalp. Scrub with your fingertips somewhat lightly. You don’t have to scrub hard like you’re polishing granite; it’s always best to err on the side of being gentler than you need to be. The salt will scrub up the flakes, and the coconut oil will condition your hair in the meantime and just give the salt a creamy texture you can work with while also preventing it from dissolving in the water too soon.
You’ll have to use rather a lot of shampoo to get this out of your hair, but it’s not bad. Typical lather-rinse-repeat sort of thing; you’re trying to break up the coconut oil so that the salt can be dissolved, plus rinsing the whole glop out. Make sure you get all of the grittiness of the salt out of your hair, then just condition as usual.
I added a drop of tea tree oil to it once, but woke up the next morning viciously stuffed up, which had never happened to me before, so I don’t bother with the tea tree oil at this point.
I went from DISMAL dandruff to pretty much absolutely nothing whatsoever in one go. I just use it again when I see the flakes showing up again. It beats trying false hope after false hope and having none of them work. And again, while you’re doing that, you can look for a more permanent “cure,” but in the meantime, you can wear black shirts again while your search for a way of dealing with itch and inflammation.
For the record, my hair is coarse, dark, tends to be oily, and I exfoliate rather enthusiastically. Itch and inflammation was never a problem for me, just exfoliation and oiliness. Hence for me, the best solution to the problem was just mechanically scrubbing the damned stuff up as opposed to treating it like a medical condition.
I don’t have dandruff, but in the winter my scalp gets really dry, flaky and itchy. I found that Paul Mitchell’s Tea Tree Oil shampoo works wonders. It also has peppermint essential oil which alleviates the itching as well. It feels cool and tingly when you shampoo–really nice.
The specific name for the shampoo I mentioned is Tea Tree Special Shampoo.
oooh! The scrub sounds neat! I’m going to try it! I bet it feels amazing.
My husband has always had a problem with a flaking scalp and the copper bristled brush has absolutely worked for him. He doesn’t even use a dandruff shampoo anymore!
Kristen: If your hair is on the long side, you may have to get under the tresses to get the cream right against the roots.
And if you scrub too harshly, the water will sting your scalp, but it’s not a serious problem. Just go more gently next time. I haven’t found that the scrubbing fells very good actually, but it’s not bad and it works like a charm.
The newest breakthrough in itchy scalp and dandruff products in a new form of zinc called zinc pca and when used with purifying herbs it opens up the hair follicle to release trapped bacteria. This trapped bacteria is what causes many scalp conditions including dandruff, seborrheic dermatitis and also scalp acne.
There is also strong evidence that a diet with many sweets will make itchy scalp and dandruff worse since it feeds the imbalance of the scalp. Therefore while using the shampoos with zinc pca (zincplex) we suggest that you lay off the sweets as this will clear up your problem very quickly.
salt is the best thing that works next to listerine. the salt grabs the dead skin and it’s fun to remove it when the oil from your head sticks to the salt. just shake some salt on your dry head before a shower. works real great, i have been tanning and taking hot showers so my scalp is hella dry. but my head feels clean now.
Only two things have ever worked for me (and I’ve tried it all!) – ABBA Pure Moisture Shampoo and Head & Shoulders for dry scalp…only the dry scalp stuff, none of the others. I have a full bottle of T Gel in my shower that is useless to me
I think it worked for me in my teens but for some reason, not anymore.
hi there. perform i must utilize the actual sweetie combined with water to drink about the head or just about the locks? what are biotin that contains shampoos? as well as that make of locks natural oils tend to be secure to implement? thanks.
I have used multiple products for my dandruff problem (Neutrogena, Garnier, Head and Shoulders etc) and Shielo Hydrate Shampoo has been the most effective I have found, from the first wash there is great relief, and a few washes afterwards it effectively clears up all the dandruff.
I usually apply it twice in each shower to clean the scalp thoroughly. It smells and feels great on the head.
Also tar shampoos are a great way to fight dandruff. But you have to be careful since they can stain light colored hair. Happened to me once.