Dandruff is a condition that causes flakes of dead skin to appear on the scalp. The flaking accompanied by dandruff may be white or light yellow in color, they are caused by something called seborrhea.
People who suffer from dandruff may notice their scalp feeling crusty, red and raw. If the seborrhea gets worse in can get extremely itchy or even cause hair loss in rare cases. However, any lost hair usually grows back one it’s treated.
Who gets dandruff?
Dandruff may start in early adolescence as a teen goes through puberty, and plenty of teens and adults live with it.
Those who suffer from eczema might notice that their dandruff worsens whenever they have a flare-up.
People who get dandruff in general may find that it gets worse during the winter or in cold temperatures.
Treating dandruff
Most dandruff can be controlled using over-the-counter dandruff shampoo. However, in more severe cases, prescription shampoo, steroid creams, or antifungal creams will be needed to help irritated skin.
Home treatment
Seborrhea alone can be treated with over-the-counter dandruff shampoo such as:
Selenium sulfide 1% shampoo (e.g., Selsun Blue)
Sulfur shampoo (e.g., Scalpicin, X-Seb)
Tar-based shampoo (e.g., T-Gel)
Zinc pyrithione shampoo (e.g., Head & Shoulders)
Those with dandruff will need to use a dandruff shampoo every day until their condition improves. After, it will be okay to use the shampoo less often.
Medical treatment
Those who have seborrhea in areas other than the scalp will find that shampoos alone will not control their dandruff. Instead, a GP can prescribe strength dandruff shampoos, antifungal/steroid creams and lotions.
After treatment, areas of skin that effected with seborrhea may be lighter than the surrounding skin. However, this color difference will fade into the skin’s normal tone overtime.
Living with dandruff
Dandruff can't be cured, however, it can be kept under control. Once someone makes an effort to control their dandruff, people will barely notice the person has it. In fact, one of the only ways someone might know a person has dandruff is by looking at the shampoos they use.
