Hi,
Thanks for posting your query to Healthcare Magic. Myself Dr S K Kanodia and will try to provide you the best of information regarding your query.

Young man I fully agree with you as "dandruff" is definitely a very difficult situation to treat completely. But why it is so....to know it, you should understand a basic fact regarding dandruff. Our skin gets renewed every day, what it is today on the top will not be present tomorrow and would be dead skin in form of scales which are not actually visible on normal skin. So we can say we are just one day old from our skin most superficially. Now in some persons it is renewed at a faster pace or because of hygiene and scalp hair this dead skin in form of scales gets entangled and trapped in form of visible of scales known as dandruff. It varies from person to person and also on other of factors which makes the difference inter-individually.

Before I move any further I would like to ask you certain relevant question to this condition:
1. Do you feel lots of scales or excessive heaps of scales deposited on your scalp that forms the mounts like appearance or is it simple flaking only.
2. Had you got infection or boils in scalp any time in past. If yes how many times
3. Do you feel an urge to itch repeatedly on scalp
4. Do you use any type of hair oil on your scalp.
5. Do you wash your scalp daily or frequency of washing your scalp and the shampoo or soap.
6. Any skin problem in addition to dandruff such as acne or anything.
7. Your occupation or any continuous outdoor activity.

I hope you would not be bothered to reply above very short and brief questionnaire. Waiting for your reply so that I can guide you further for your problem.

Regards,
Dr. Sanjay Kumar Kanodia
MD (Dermatology & STD)

---

Hello young man welcome again to the forum.

Thanks for your to the point reply. The various related things which I asked in the previous mail was to assess the severity of the problem as in day to day practice we see cases where heaps of scales are deposited and are also involving other areas of the body but are of no sense to discuss with you as your dandruff is nothing serious or not on very higher side (as per the response I have received from you). Now you have to understand the basic fact (which I discussed previously also) that your type of dandruff is part of normal phenomenon skin renewal.

Coming on to your problem which is scientifically known as “pityriasis capitis” is highest in twenties and then recedes by itself in later part of life. It is due to the fact that the renewal of skin and the fatty acid secretion in scalp is highest at this part of life. So there is a tendency to grow fungus as well which makes the flaking more perceptible. There are no such important predisposing factors except for few which can make the situation worsened. 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. With due respect to your mom, I would like to tell you that God has given us adequate of oil glands to nourish our hair. People do have a myth that applying hair oil makes hair good- but we dermatologists totally disagree with that. On one side there is no direct or indirect benefit of hair oil, on the other side it actually attract more of dirt and grease over the scalp leading to more proliferation of fungus and thence to more dandruff. People do say that this nourishes your hair- but hair nourishment is never provided by oil but by the best of proteins and mineral with vitamin diet.

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.

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)

---