10 years of dandruff

[bebe]

My fiancé has a long term dandruff problem.
He had dandruff for the last 10 years. It is not very extensive but very annoying as it doesn't want to go away, it causes itchiness as well. It is quite dry, white from little particles of the skin. It comes mostly from the top-sides parts of the scalp. He tried almost all possible ways of getting rid off it. Can't remember all list of anti-dandruff shampoos he used, from hair creams, to hair oils, house made treatments, Indian himalaya herbs cosmetics and all possible. It all works temporarily let's say for 3-4 weeks. Than it seems that the dandruff immunes itself for all these chemicals as the disease gets immune on some antibiotics. We have no idea what to do more, how can he get rid off it permanently. We've tried different diets, he doesn't smoke, nor drinks and has a quite healthy life style. He has most of the time very short hair, doesn't use combs, do not go to barbers and shaves his head with his own shaver.

Any idea what could help? A visit by a local GP or a dermatologist only will give you a reply from them that it is not extensive enough and it's a normal occurrence for them. They don't get it what it is to have itchy scalp skin for the last 10 years.

 

[liana kay]

my hubby has psorasis and its a similar type of thing but my hubbys never goes as its auto -immune ,it comes from within you cant turn it off . What i find best is to ditch all the anti dandruff shampoos as they strip the scalp which then trys to replenish what its lost so back to step one - dont use conditioning shampoos as they can deposit silacon on the scalp which in turn builds up and irritates .
id get a simple tea tree or aloe vera shampoo from the chemist or health food shop check the back to make sure theres no polymers or parabens (plastics they will be the end part of a chemical name ) and only use when the hair is greasy or regulary if the hair has gel in ( gel is enemy no 1) or after doing a treatment . -massage about 2 tablespoons of warmed olive oil or coconut oil and massage into the scalp you can wrap head (not mouth or face) in clingfilm which helps more leave 5 min -hour wash off . hope this helps

 

[number1kitty]

It may be psoriasis so ask GP to refer to a skin specialist to have it looked at again.

I have used Nizoral anti dandruff from over the pharmacy counter and found it great.

There are many reasons though to dry scalps, including thyroid issues.

Keep pestering your GP as I am sure he will understand that it effects you emotionally as well as physically and I am sure you will eventually get to the bottom of it. Like most things though GPs often presume its something simple.

Kate

 

[loubylou]

Daft question i know but has he tried head & shoulders ?
i spent a small fortune on all the lotions and potions that are meant for dandruff and never got a result,
i used to scratch my head till it bled it was that bad then one day i thought sod it i will try a cheap one and got head & shoulders,
i have been using this for about 9 years now and i have no itch or dandruff,
i also started to take folic acid around the same time so maybe that helped too hth

 

[Noodle]

Neutrogena T-Gel is also a good dandruff shampoo, and it's not too expensive either.

 

[adelekeegan1]

I am not a hair geek and am only relating from personal experience.

My husband has the same too, as does his brother. In their case it is eczema but it is quite well controlled by Head and Shoulders shampoo.

Strangely enough, in both their cases it is much worse if their hair is very short, the itchiness and shedding seems to increase

 

[shell28]

My husband suffers quite bad and he uses polytar and it work really well it clears it up mind you it stinks :lol:

 

[bebe]

We've tried nizoral-a nightmare.

we've tried tea tree oil shampoo-it worked fine first few weeks, now it gives him more itchiness than normally

we've tried g&g baby shampoo-worked quite ok, but after 6-8months the irritation came back as well

we've installed anti-chlorine filter on our shower pipe, didn't work either as we thought it might reduce the drying out of the skin

we've tried pure lemon juice-worked really well (apart from burning eyes) but it caused a need of washing his hair every day what increased the drying out of the skin

we've tried anti dandruff oil also from himalaya herbs and worked fine for the first few months, than all came back to normal. And also it's quite hard to have it on your head, all greasy and shiny, slowly dripping from your head.

I don't think that h&s could help us, after so many better, more formulated shampoos effect may be the same, dandruff will come back after all. But we may try it.

This neutrogena seems to be very promising, we didn't try it before. We'll go to tescos tomorrow asap and get it from the shell.

The thing is that we want to find the cause of the dandruff and not just get rid of it temporarily by using shampoos or oils. You can imagine how annoying this already got after 10 years. :irked:

 

[bebe]

My husband suffers quite bad and he uses polytar and it work really well it clears it up mind you it stinks :lol:

We've just read about it on a website. That can work. We'll try

 

[Katelisa]

there are 2 diff types of polytar, i have found the one in the whie bottle more effective than the brown bottle.

also, original source tea tree shampoo and conditioner are really good. aswell as head and shoulders shampoo. but with my coloured hair they do strip the colour out quickly.

really, if he has short hair why does he need shampoo? sounds silly, but maybe he could try a gentle facial wash / cream cleanser insted?

 

[rouge]

Has he thought about seeing a homeopath? They are very good at getting to the root cause of long-term problems. It may even be triggered by something he's not even aware of. Just a thought.

 

[DEBI-DEE]

Both my husband and his mother suffer from something simillar. They both use an Elvive shampoo for dry scalp (its in a blue bottle). They both swear by it and if my husband doesnt use it his scalp breaks out. Its the only product that works for him

 

[LindaC]

have you tried crushing an aspirin thenpouring that and shampoo into your hands...mixing it together...and then shampooing your hair...rinse and repeat...this is my daughters suggestion...she says it works

LindaC

 

[becki x]

Hi there. The first thing you need to determine is,is it actually dandruff ?

Dandruff is yellowish in coulour,thick sticky and often smelly.

Flaky scalp tends to be semi opaque silverish scales.

Both a real nightmare for the person with the condition. Let me know which it is hun,othewise this post will be like war and peace if i offer advice on both :lol: xx

 

[july]

Hi there!!!!
This a subject that was on my mind for ages, I’ve tried so many shampoos –from Nizoral, Selsun, prescription shampoos, natural ones from Fresh & Wild (Jaason) and Neal’s Yard…Nothing worked. My dandruff was getting worse, I was terrified to touch my hair as a snow fall would be on my shoulders next minute. It started getting from small flakes to big, chunky ones. I’ve asked my GP to refer me to a Trycologist. He refused, didn’t think it was a problem.
Until last month, when I did a search on internet and found Philip Kingley products. They have clinics in London and they’ve been around for ages. I’ve tried their shampoo for flaky scalp, the conditioner to go with it and bought a wonderful scalp mask. FANTASTIC!!! I’ve seen result straight away. I couldn’t believe it!!!
Definitely would recommend it!!!! Give it a try! Buy the travel sizes and if you’re happy, buy the full size!!!
It’s really a life saver for me!!!

 

[liana kay]

there may not be a cause ,some people just have things . another thing that may help - omega 3 and 6 supplements or eating oily fish like salmon or tuna . but again ,give up the treatment it will come back

 

[Rach]

Have you eliminated psoriasis? It does sound like it could be this. My mum has had psoriasis for many years and regularly sees the skin specialist at her hospital.

 

[becki x]

I really do mean this with the greatest of respects but the thread poster hasn't actually described the condition so therefore making recomendations and diagnosis or even giving advise aren't going to be helpfull until we know EXACTLY what the problem is

 

[Jaffacake]

I get flare ups of psoriosis (sp?) and it is BAD!! snow fall, itchy scalp with flakes the size of cornflakes sometimes! i'm sure it is stress related :| only thing that clears it up for me is Selsun but you have to try it a few times a week to start with then every couple of weeks or as needed to keep it at bay.

 

[bebe]

Thanks all very much for help.

Hi there. The first thing you need to determine is,is it actually dandruff ?
Dandruff is yellowish in coulour,thick sticky and often smelly.
Flaky scalp tends to be semi opaque silverish scales.

Well from what you suggest, the description of his problems comes more under Psoriasis definition. The flakes are small, white-silverish do not smell, are dry and remind of typical 'snow' on the shoulders. The dried out skin on the scalp is here and there pink and seems to be lightly inflamed around the hair bulbs.

there may not be a cause ,some people just have things . another thing that may help - omega 3 and 6 supplements or eating oily fish like salmon or tuna . but again ,give up the treatment it will come back

we've tried a diet of omega-6 suppl. from linseed oil, which is even better than omega-3 and also didn't have much influence on his scalp skin. Also our diet is quite rich in fish, like salmon, cod, mackerels and other white fish, so I think omega-3 is something that we eat quite regularly.

We may try this phillip kingsley shampoo, but maybe as a last desperate step before running to GPs, homeopats and to hospitals, as a little 250ml bottle costs £17.