Causes of Dandruff, Natural Scalp Remedies for Malassezia Care, Anti Dandruff Shampoo Treatment
Is your scalp shedding scales of dead skin? Dandruff! Not attractive, not contagious and usually controllable.
Your cause for excessive flaking and itching may be a chronic condition or just temporary.
Several causes for dandruff are:
And an emerging cause for dandruff is malassezia fungus.
Malassezia is common on many healthy folks scalp. Its presence is typically not a problem.
However, sometimes it grows out of control by feeding on your hair follicle’s oil secretions. This activity leads to increased cell turnover and a large number of dead skin cells. As such, these dead cells tend to clump and fall off.
Exactly what causes malassezia fungus colossal growth is unknown, although a couple of situations that might contribute to this dandruff type development, or the other types, include:
- stress
- illness
- hormonal fluctuations
- infrequent shampooing
- increased oil production
- suppressed immune system
- extra sensitivity to the malassezia fungus
- neurological disorders ~ Parkinson’s disease
- stressful medical conditions ~ heart attack, stroke
Antifungal remedies are the primary care treatment malassezia fungus. Some natural topical type antifungal care treatments you can experiment with:
- garlic
- olive oil
- tea tree oil
- coconut oil
- baking soda
- olive leaf extract
- grapefruit seed extract
Always try this stuff on a small area first to check for possible allergic skin reactions. In the alternative, OTC dandruff shampoos may be more your style to successful dandruff treatment. Dandruff shampoo is classified according to its active ingredient:
- tar based shampoo ~ slows cell turnover
- ketoconazole shampoo ~ broad-spectrum antifungal
- zinc pyrithione shampoo ~ antibacterial and antifungal agent
- salicylic acid shampoo ~ helps eliminate scaling, but may dry out scalp
- selenium sulfide shampoo ~ helps prevent cell turnover and may also reduce malassezia
You’ll need to experiment with these until you find “the one” that works for you. Also, read and follow their instructions carefully.
If one type of shampoo works for a time and then seems less effective, try alternating. Always leave your chosen shampoo on for a minimum of five minutes.
When all else fails, see a dermatologist for stronger remedy treatments.
In addition, these lifestyle adjustment steps may reduce your dandruff outbreaks:
- sunlight ~ a bit may be good for your dandruff
- shampoo more often ~ especially if you have an oily scalp
- reduce use of styling products ~ they can build up on scalp, making it oilier
- stress management ~ stress can trigger/exacerbate existing dandruff symptoms
- consume a healthy diet ~ special attention to zinc, B vitamins, essential fatty acid
Of course, wearing light colors helps mask your scaly flakes until you have a chance to get your dandruff under control.
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