Dandruff

What is dandruff?

Dandruff is a sloughing of the skin on the scalp that leads to white flakes on the head, neck, and shoulders.

What causes dandruff?

Dandruff is thought to be caused by a form of a skin condition called eczema, which causes increased shedding of normal scalp skin cells. Dandruff can also be caused by a fungal infection.¹ Hormonal or seasonal changes may make dandruff worse.

What are the symptoms?

Common symptoms of dandruff include white, oily-looking flakes of dead skin in your hair and on your shoulders and an itchy, scaling scalp. Your scalp can be either excessively dry or oily.

How is it treated?

Home treatment is often effective in preventing and getting rid of the symptoms of dandruff.

• Use an antidandruff shampoo. A variety of shampoos are available, containing different ingredients. Trying several will help you find out which antidandruff shampoo is most effective for you.
  • Shampoo daily to prevent your scalp from accumulating dead cells.
  • If an antidandruff shampoo helps stop dandruff for a while but the dandruff problem returns, rotate shampoos.
  • Consider alternating antidandruff shampoos with regular ones if you are concerned about the effects of antidandruff shampoos' harsh chemicals on your hair.
• Rub your scalp. When you wash your hair, lather once, rinse, then lather a second time and rub your scalp vigorously as you shampoo. This will help dislodge excess cells. Be careful not to rub so energetically that you damage your scalp.
• Let it soak. After you lather the second time, let the medicated shampoo sit on your head for 5 minutes. This will give the antidandruff shampoo time to work.
• Rinse well. This will help get rid of all the cells you have loosened up during shampooing.

Citations

1. Gupta AK, et al. (2004). Skin diseases associated with Malassezia species. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 51(5): 785–798.