LET’S TALK DANDRUFF

Photo by Giulia Freitas

Now I know that Dandruff is a common problem for many ladies and for a longer time this week, I have found myself talking with a lot of people about dandruff mostly complaints of course. ….. Now, having suffered from it myself, I decided it is important that I spend some time writing and educating us on it briefly.

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First, let’s start with an understanding of what Dandruff is.

Although the cause of dandruff is not completely understood, it is currently theorized that one of the main causes is a breakdown of the scalps natural lipid barrier, leaving it more exposed to infection by the microscopic yeast that is commonly found in the scalp. Now, when the yeast overgrows, it leads to an inflammatory response that kills off scalp cells at a high rate, which in turn sloughs off in sticky patches and flakes. Those whitish flakes that you so much hate, sounds awful, right?

youtube: dryflakes 

HOW CAN YOU IDENTIFY IT? 

• White or clear flakes on the scalp, through the hair, and on clothing.
• Itchy scalp which may be red and inflamed.
• Stinky Scalp

CAUSES

• Dandruff often starts at puberty because as young and growing teens, body hygiene habits are yet to change to meet the challenges of newly accelerated sebum (You are allowed to use your dictionaries or wiki here …lool) production.
• Stress (Yes, this!! So many people stressing daily over irrelevant things…STOP IT). 
• Poor hygiene and poor diet can make the scalp more susceptible to dandruff. 
• There are also those who can’t stand not eating sugar and oh, consuming food containing loads of carbohydrate cause high carbohydrate breaks down into sugar, so in essence, High sugar foods, in particular, are known to exacerbate yeast infections.

HOW TO GET RID OF DANDRUFF

Simple Treatments

• The hair should be brushed regularly to loosen flakes and stimulate blood supply to the scalp, which will accelerate the natural immune response to infection.
• There are a few habits you can develop and natural treatments you can use to treat dandruff.
• First is through your Food intake or Nutrition: Reduce your intake of all forms of sugar and refined starches while treating for dandruff.
• Cleansing: Massage your scalp thoroughly with your fingertips when shampooing. This will help loosen and remove any dead skin flakes and help prevent the infection from continuing. Wash your hair daily until the infection is cleared up.
• Conditioning: Use a protective hair condition on the ends of hair only. Avoid getting conditioner on your scalp where it can clog pores and interfere with the healing of the skin.
• Massage: Yes, massage your scalp several times a day with the pads of the fingers only, this will stimulate blood supply to the hair follicles and help loosen the dead skin flakes.
• Brushing: Brush your hair thoroughly on a daily basis, this will help loosen and remove dead skin flakes, increase the smooth flow of sebum along the hair shaft, and increase blood supply to the hair follicles.
• Wash Hands Before or After Brushing and Grooming Hair: This is an absolute must because most times the bacteria that lie in dirty hands are those that go in to cause the infections. Fungal infections of the skin are highly contagious, and it can easily re-infect and spread to other areas of the body. Do not itch your hair with dirty fingers, use a comb. 

This is why it’s important to wash your hair daily, or weekly and to brush out any loose dandruff flakes – so that healthy areas of the scalp will not be infected. Washing your hands after brushing, massaging and grooming your hair will also help prevent reinfection or cross-infection.

image: passnownow.

The following herbs and nutrients have been shown to reduce dandruff infections:

Natural Internal Treatments for Dandruff

Alpha-Lipoic Acid, Vanadyl Sulfate, Gymnema Sylvestre and Chromium are all-natural regulators of blood sugar levels. They can help prevent feeding the infection by keeping blood sugar levels normalized.

Olive Leaf and Oregano Leaf are both natural systemic antifungal agents.

ESSENTIAL OILS

First of all to learn more about essential oils, which are the best and how to best use them, please click here. There is a healthy amount of information to get you well rounded and invested in essential oils. 

Now in reference to treating dandruff, the following herbs can be used as a tonic for reducing fungal infections on a topical basis. Extracts of these herbs or several drops of their essential oils dissolved in Aloe Vera gel or Witch Hazel can greatly relieve the symptoms of itching and flaking in dandruff.




Tea tree oil is also particularly effective against fungal and bacterial infections. You can often find them sold in stores or contact me for purchase

Shop the Oils Here ...

Some more oils: 

Clary Sage; Desert Sage; Eucalyptus

Fumitory; Ginkgo Biloba; Ginseng; Grapefruit Seed Extract

Grapefruit Essential Oil; Grapeseed Extract;

Juniper Berry Essential Oil; Lavender Essential Oil;

Lemongrass; Myrtle; Oregano; Poike Root.

PS: STOP USING HARSH PRODUCTS RECOMMENDED BY SALOONS, THAT MOSTLY NEVER WORK. Invest in the oils above, they also grow hair.

Xoxo, Ciao