Dandruff

[some kind of ugly]

Hello all. This is the first time in the 24 years of my humble existence of me having dandruff. Know of any quality shampoo's or conditioners that doesn't smell like your Head and Shoulders or Selson Blue? That stuff smells vile. I am looking for something a bit more on the natural side as far as ingredients.

Much Thanks,
Gary

 

[Kingram]

I have tried many shampoos even the ones that are mainly zinc sulfide. Here is what works for me. I wash my hair with natural olive soap and then rinse with diluted vinegar. After I dry a bit, I massage my hair and scalp with 1 olive oil:1 sweet almond oil. The smell will be gone within 2 minutes. Hope this works for you. Let us know how it will turn out.

 

[Stubblefield]

A tea tree oil shampoo is usually what I use to eliminate dandruff. Trader Joe's has it for a good price.

 

[kingfisher]

Dandruff is usually actually seborrhea, which is now known to be caused by a fungal infection of the scalp. Many shampoos will kill it effectively and thus cut the dandruff, but most of them are "artificial" and all of them smell funky. Shampoos that contain ketoconazole (an antifungal agent) are the most effective, and are now available over the counter at a weaker strength.

The only other option has already been named by Stubblefield, and that is tea tree oil. This works for many people with seborrhea, and there are some wonderful shampoos that contain it.

If that doesn't work, you could go to something like Selsun Blue and then follow it with a really nice-smelling conditioner.

 

[Hando]

T-Gel

Neutrogena i think, it's the coal tar that does it

 

[Obsessed]

I think some people find jojoba oil good for scalp conditions, although I don't know first hand.

 

[kingfisher]

T-Gel

Neutrogena i think, it's the coal tar that does it

Great stuff, but it stinks even worse than Selsun Blue. If the man is looking for non-stinky relief, T-Gel ain't it!

 

[Hando]

stinky

just smells clean to me

 

[galopede]

Go bald! It worked for me...

 

[mretzloff]

I have awful dandruff. What you need to do is go to the store and look at the shampoos. Almost everyone has a different active ingredient, so you need to find which works for you.

Pyrithione zinc (Head and Shoulders) does nothing for me. Selenium sulfide (Selsum Blue) keeps my dandruff in check.

 

[kingfisher]

Pyrithione zinc (Head and Shoulders) does nothing for me. Selenium sulfide (Selsum Blue) keeps my dandruff in check.

This is proof that your "dandruff" is really seborrhea. Pyrithione zinc works fine for people whose dandruff is just dry scalp. You might also want to look into ketoconazole shampoos if the Selsun Blue ever seems like it's not doing what you'd like it to.

 

[mretzloff]

This is proof that your "dandruff" is really seborrhea. Pyrithione zinc works fine for people whose dandruff is just dry scalp. You might also want to look into ketoconazole shampoos if the Selsun Blue ever seems like it's not doing what you'd like it to.

You lost me there. Could you explain that please?

 

[Spivey]

Go bald! It worked for me...

+1. I shaved my head about 9 months ago and haven't had a problem with dandruff since!

 

[Jcof3474]

+1 on the Tea Tree Shampoo! I have had dandruff for many years and have always just used Head & Shoulders with mixed results, but just always used since I had dandruff. The Tea Tree Shampoo just works better, and I have found that what works better is to work the shampoo through your hair and then just let it sit in your hair while you finish the rest of your shower and then rinse out at the end (I learned this from a dr. tv show my wife was watching, and now I no longer ever have dandruff).

 

[guyhayton]

Without a shadow of a doubt please give two weeks of using T-Gel / Neutogena

Yes it is a strong smell, but without a doubt a fifteen ago when I was about the same age as you this sorted out my dandruff/dry scalp. Every couple of years I get some repetition, and I use t-gel for a couple of months at most to get it under control.

http://www.tgel.com/uk/?gclid=CLzC7ITuxpoCFYh_3godV0oz1g


PS: it has been four years ago since I last used it and this coincides with me giving up dairy produce!!!! YMMV

 

[PaulX608]

A tea tree oil shampoo is usually what I use to eliminate dandruff. Trader Joe's has it for a good price.

+100 on the TJ's tea tree. It's worked great for me!

 

[thatguy1807]

Is there any possible way that a shampoo could give a person dandruff?
YAY, my 200th post!!!

 

[Bushranger]

congrats on 200. I think there is, but have no proof

 

[Corey]

I had it bad for a while, and Selson Blue, Head and Shoulders, and T-Gel didn't do a thing to it. I ended up getting a shampoo called Nizoral. It's not cheap, but for the money I spent on other cheaper stuff, I could have probably bought two bottles of the stuff. It has a different active ingredient than the other shampoos but it worked incredibly well.

 

[kingfisher]

You lost me there. Could you explain that please?

Seborrhea is a skin condition that is caused by infection with a fungus called Malassezia furfur. It produces flaky skin. Seborrhea can occur anywhere but its typical locations are the scalp, the eyebrows (particularly the part of the eyebrows closer to the nose), and behind the ears. If you scratch near your eyebrows and some flakiness appears, or you can find some scaling just behind your earlobe, you almost certainly have seborrhea.

The best treatment for it is ketoconazole shampoo (trade name of ketoconazole is "Nizoral"), but Selsun Blue seems to kill the fungus relatively well and is much more effective than pyrithione zinc (which is the active ingredient in Head and Shoulders).

Therefore, if your dandruff is relatively resistant to Head and Shoulders, but gets better with Selsun Blue, it seems likely you have a mild case of seborrhea. I'm just saying that if that's the case, and the Selsun Blue is ever not quite "cutting the mustard," that you should look into getting some Nizoral shampoo. The over-the-counter stuff is half the strength of the prescription stuff, but works pretty well for most people. The key is to allow the shampoo to stay on the scalp for 3-5 minutes before rinsing it off.

Finally, pretty much all successful treatments of seborrheic dandruff temporarily make the condition appear to be worsening before it gets better.