If you have dandruff, do not worry about being alone with your
problem. With one out of every two people in the entire world having,
or having had, that same problem as yours, you are definitely not alone
with it. Dandruff is a common hair problem. Embarrassing indeed, but a very, very common problem nonetheless.
What causes dandruff? Well, you see, our entire skin, from our
scalps to the soles of our feet, sheds dead skin cells on a daily
basis. We get a complete coating of new skin every 28 days or so, but
we hardly even notice it.
Our bodies also play host to a lot of microorganisms like
bacteria and fungi, feeding off on the sebaceous oils that our skin
produces. Our scalp in particular is home to a kind of fungus called
malassezia fungus, and its food is the oils produced by the hair
follicles of our scalp. Dandruff happens when, for some reason or
another, the malassezia fungus goes crazy and irritates our scalp,
causing the dead skin to shed a lot faster. So, instead of shedding the
dead skin cells of our scalp for a month, the shedding happens in less
than two weeks, and the oil that our hair follicles produce cause these
dead skin cells to clump together and become dandruff. Until now, the
factors that trigger this phenomenon with the malassezia fungus are
still the subject of research.
Dandruff is an embarrassing hair condition, and it can recur despite your best efforts. But with proper hair care, the recurrence of dandruff can be controlled. The best way to keep the flakes at bay is to shampoo your hair every day.
Dandruff can, of course, become stubborn, so if washing everyday
with your regular shampoo does not stop the flakes from becoming
haywire, the next best thing to do would be to start using
anti-dandruff shampoos. Look for anti-dandruff shampoos with zinc
pyrithione, selenium sulfide, salicylic acid or ketoconazole as the
active ingredient. To keep your scalp from developing immunity to these
shampoos, go ahead and rotate brands at least once a month.
For optimum results, you can lather your hair
with the shampoo of your choice twice. The first wash will clear the
scalp of the flakes and the oil buildup. The second one would let the
chemicals in the shampoo get absorbed by the scalp.
You can also try homemade remedies to wash the flakes away and
to keep the dandruff from recurring. What is considered the best
homemade remedy to dandruff is a vinegar wash. Mix two teaspoons of
vinegar with six teaspoons of water and rub it against your scalp
before you go to bed, then wrap your head with a towel. Apply the same
solution to your hair once again in the morning when you wake up, then
rinse it with water. You do not have to worry about the smell of
vinegar in your hair, as the smell of vinegar does evaporate
eventually.
Whatever you do, never, ever scratch the clumps with your fingernails. It will cause wounds on your scalp.
Dandruff is an embarrassing hair condition, but it is not
unmanageable. Just take good care of your hair and the flakes will go
away.
