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Have Oily Scalp. Suffer Hair Fall And Hair Thinning . What To Do?

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Posted on Wed, 28 Aug 2013
Question: Hi, I'm 21 years old. I have oily scalp and I've tried so many shampoos that are for oily scalp and nothing seem to work. Sometimes when I exercise and sweat so many oil comes out from my scalp and makes my hair fall out. 4 years ago my hair was so thick but now its very thin :( My hair always hurts when I sleep it feels like the my hair or scalp is sore? I just don't know what to do if u can help me I would really appreciate it. Thanks :)
doctor
Answered by Dr. Sanjay Kumar Kanodia (38 minutes later)
Hi,

Welcome and thanks for posting your query to XXXXXXX

As per your query you have oily scalp with soreness and hair loss which is not getting corrected despite using multiple shampoos. I can understand your concern for the problems you are facing on the scalp.

Before I proceed any further you should understand the basic important facts regarding the scalp skin..

Scientifically and medically our scalp skin is a multiple layered structure. It has the highest density of the hair at this area. Now each hair is attached with a oil glands which are universally present all over body but on scalp are larger than rest of the skin.

Along with this our skin gets renewed every day. The layer which is present on the top today will be fallen off tomorrow. It will not be present tomorrow and would be dead skin in form of scales. This process is not actually visible on normally. So we can say we are just one day old from our skin most superficially.

Now in some persons the tendency of oil secretion as well skin renewal is bit fast. So the scalp skin secrets more oil as well is renewed at a faster pace. This also depends on the age of the person. In yourself I can make out that you are a young man of 21 years. So there is high tendency of oil secretion and skin renewal.

So you can get that why your scalp is oily. Now because of hygiene and scalp hair the top dead skin in form of scales gets entangled and trapped in form of scales known as dandruff. It varies from person to person and also on other of factors which makes the difference inter-individually. This particular thing irritates our scalp skin if not properly cleaned. So after some times you feel itching and irritation n scalp skin. Once the itching is higher then it leads to scratching and ultimately causes sore areas on the scalp. So probably you can get the exact reason of all your problems.

We can not change our own tendency to secret oil as well as to renew the skin but the personal measures of hygiene as well as the environmental factors can be modified to take care of the problem at the best.

Now for your hair fall, - the number of normal hair falling varies from few hair to up to 50-100 per day. Now if your hair falling more than 100s per day then it is definitely a problem. If it is not then you have to understand hair fall as normal process of day to day life.

We have almost 1 lac hair on our scalp and amongst them around 5% of hair are in falling phase and then another 0.1% (around 100) of hair can fall everyday. In males this is super-added with hormonal influence of testosterone hormone ( the male hormone) which we call as "male pattern baldness". This also depends upon genetics- meaning type and pattern of hair your family pattern (from your father and mother's side).

So you can get some idea about your hair fall also.

For the remedy part follow the things below:

1.Wash your scalp daily. You will say you are already doing it. But my way of application is- it is to be done twice in a single bath. It means when you are washing your scalp apply first time shampoo for washing the hair part only, then rinse it off immediately with water. Reapply the shampoo again immediately, leave it for around 5 minutes, do a good gentle massage by your fingers for around 2 minutes and then wash it off. By doing so for around 7 days you will get good benefit.

2.The other way if you can not do two time wash is apply your shampoo ( diluted with water) for around half an hour before bath like an hair oil. And then rest of the second application and bath as told above. You can reduce the frequency of twice application after 2 weeks and then can optimize it according to your own need. If you are not getting any better then can also do it two times in day for time being- yes you read it properly two times per day. It is same like how many times you generally brush your teeth- you say one time, but those who have some problem with teeth do brushing twice also. In the same manner to reduce the flaking - the latest dermatological view is you can gently wash your hair two times (the same thing I can not say to a female with long hair and I suppose you also don’t have long hair).

3.Stick to one good shampoo which is suiting your hair, don’t change the shampoos frequently. If you are using any conditioner also then to be used over the strands of hair only and not over the scalp skin.

4.Do not use any kind of hair oil or any oily or creamy stuff any time on your scalp.
5.Comb your hair at least 3-4 times a day and most importantly at night time so that the dust particle and other of dead skin is taken off.

6.Eat a lot of good healthy diet, do mild exercises, reduce your work stress as all these have bit impact on skin so also on scalp skin.

7.Finally if you are not getting relief from all these measures done judiciously and prudently then can apply and take certain antifungals and keratolytics (medicines reduce and removing excess scaling) under dermatological advice.

Do not at all scratch any area on the scalp as it may lead to infection over the skin.
So with simple measures you can take care of your problem without much of the efforts.

Hope I have answered your query. If you have any further questions, I will be happy to help or if you do not have any clarifications, you can close the discussion and rate the answer.

Wish you good health.

Regards,

Dr Sanjay Kumar Kanodia
(MD- Dermatology & STD)
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Sanjay Kumar Kanodia (3 minutes later)
So your saying this is normal%3F I have friends that are much older than me and they never had this problem.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Sanjay Kumar Kanodia (1 hour later)
Hello young man,

Welcome to the forum again. Thanks a lot for so swift and fast reply.

Now as per your further query you compare yourself with other of your friends who never had these kind of problems.

Dear young fellow, God has made everyone so unique that even twins born almost at same time also do not have exactly the similar feature to each other. They may look alike but they can also vary in different of the things. So please do not kindly compare yourself with your friends who are not even singly related to your things. There is biggest reason which we say it medically- in each individual the genetics is totally different. So according to his own genetics the individual has different of the capacity to secret oil or for hair loss also.
There fore there is no comparison of one to another.
I request you to first kindly read the previous mail thoroughly and understand each fact. Try to follow the instructions given so that you can be best benefited. In my own clinical experience I have found that these measures are sufficient in most of the patients suffering from your kind of problem. There is no need of much of the medications or any other supplements.
Despite above facts if you want to clear the facts then can XXXXXXX a dermatologist. Kindly reassure and follow the simple things for atleast 2-3 weeks and then after the benefit you can maintain the things according to to your own ease.

You please do not worry about this simple problem which can be taken care of by your own good efforts.
Hope I have answered your query. If you have any further questions, I will be happy to help.
Wish you good health.

Regards,

Dr Sanjay Kumar Kanodia
(MD- Dermatology)
Note: Hope the answers resolves your concerns, however for further guidance of skin related queries consult our Dermatologist.Click here to book a consultation

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Sanjay Kumar Kanodia

Dermatologist

Practicing since :2002

Answered : 4165 Questions

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Have Oily Scalp. Suffer Hair Fall And Hair Thinning . What To Do?

Hi,

Welcome and thanks for posting your query to XXXXXXX

As per your query you have oily scalp with soreness and hair loss which is not getting corrected despite using multiple shampoos. I can understand your concern for the problems you are facing on the scalp.

Before I proceed any further you should understand the basic important facts regarding the scalp skin..

Scientifically and medically our scalp skin is a multiple layered structure. It has the highest density of the hair at this area. Now each hair is attached with a oil glands which are universally present all over body but on scalp are larger than rest of the skin.

Along with this our skin gets renewed every day. The layer which is present on the top today will be fallen off tomorrow. It will not be present tomorrow and would be dead skin in form of scales. This process is not actually visible on normally. So we can say we are just one day old from our skin most superficially.

Now in some persons the tendency of oil secretion as well skin renewal is bit fast. So the scalp skin secrets more oil as well is renewed at a faster pace. This also depends on the age of the person. In yourself I can make out that you are a young man of 21 years. So there is high tendency of oil secretion and skin renewal.

So you can get that why your scalp is oily. Now because of hygiene and scalp hair the top dead skin in form of scales gets entangled and trapped in form of scales known as dandruff. It varies from person to person and also on other of factors which makes the difference inter-individually. This particular thing irritates our scalp skin if not properly cleaned. So after some times you feel itching and irritation n scalp skin. Once the itching is higher then it leads to scratching and ultimately causes sore areas on the scalp. So probably you can get the exact reason of all your problems.

We can not change our own tendency to secret oil as well as to renew the skin but the personal measures of hygiene as well as the environmental factors can be modified to take care of the problem at the best.

Now for your hair fall, - the number of normal hair falling varies from few hair to up to 50-100 per day. Now if your hair falling more than 100s per day then it is definitely a problem. If it is not then you have to understand hair fall as normal process of day to day life.

We have almost 1 lac hair on our scalp and amongst them around 5% of hair are in falling phase and then another 0.1% (around 100) of hair can fall everyday. In males this is super-added with hormonal influence of testosterone hormone ( the male hormone) which we call as "male pattern baldness". This also depends upon genetics- meaning type and pattern of hair your family pattern (from your father and mother's side).

So you can get some idea about your hair fall also.

For the remedy part follow the things below:

1.Wash your scalp daily. You will say you are already doing it. But my way of application is- it is to be done twice in a single bath. It means when you are washing your scalp apply first time shampoo for washing the hair part only, then rinse it off immediately with water. Reapply the shampoo again immediately, leave it for around 5 minutes, do a good gentle massage by your fingers for around 2 minutes and then wash it off. By doing so for around 7 days you will get good benefit.

2.The other way if you can not do two time wash is apply your shampoo ( diluted with water) for around half an hour before bath like an hair oil. And then rest of the second application and bath as told above. You can reduce the frequency of twice application after 2 weeks and then can optimize it according to your own need. If you are not getting any better then can also do it two times in day for time being- yes you read it properly two times per day. It is same like how many times you generally brush your teeth- you say one time, but those who have some problem with teeth do brushing twice also. In the same manner to reduce the flaking - the latest dermatological view is you can gently wash your hair two times (the same thing I can not say to a female with long hair and I suppose you also don’t have long hair).

3.Stick to one good shampoo which is suiting your hair, don’t change the shampoos frequently. If you are using any conditioner also then to be used over the strands of hair only and not over the scalp skin.

4.Do not use any kind of hair oil or any oily or creamy stuff any time on your scalp.
5.Comb your hair at least 3-4 times a day and most importantly at night time so that the dust particle and other of dead skin is taken off.

6.Eat a lot of good healthy diet, do mild exercises, reduce your work stress as all these have bit impact on skin so also on scalp skin.

7.Finally if you are not getting relief from all these measures done judiciously and prudently then can apply and take certain antifungals and keratolytics (medicines reduce and removing excess scaling) under dermatological advice.

Do not at all scratch any area on the scalp as it may lead to infection over the skin.
So with simple measures you can take care of your problem without much of the efforts.

Hope I have answered your query. If you have any further questions, I will be happy to help or if you do not have any clarifications, you can close the discussion and rate the answer.

Wish you good health.

Regards,

Dr Sanjay Kumar Kanodia
(MD- Dermatology & STD)