A barber I recently went to said that Denorex, Head & Shoulders, and other popular dandruff shampoos are very bad for your scalp. He recommended some other brand… but now I can’t remember what that this.
So, a GQ followed by an IMHO: Are widely-available dandruff shampoos bad for the scalp, and, if so, what shampoo do you recommend I use? I’m tired of shedding little flakes of myself onto my shoulder :mad:
My dad’s barber said something similar to him, so I’ve avoided those brands myself. I use Neutrogena’s T-Gel, menthol version, and it works well for me. After a few weeks of use every second day it clears up my problems for months at a time.
I use the coal-tar based stuff, & it is hella good.
No lie, it rocks.
I tried it, didn’t work for me.
Also made disturbing gray soap bubbles.
YMMV.
I think there are two entirely unrelated conditions - dandruff, and dry skin in the scalp area. I suffer from the latter, and Head & Shoulders, coal tar, tea tree etc. are no help at all. The best approach I have found is to not use shampoo at all, just conditioner as if it were shampoo (leaving it in place longer than you normally would, to get the hair clean). I won’t claim that the problem has completely cleared up, but it’s a lot better than it used to be. No shampoo has touched my head in years.
I’m tempted to go all the way and not use any cleaning product at all except water on my hair, but they say you have to endure four or five weeks of itchiness before you reach that particular nirvana.
I tried the “no shampoo” idea for a while. Several months, in fact. The grease, the flakes, the juggling sugar and baking soda and salt and honey and vinegar and lemon juice.
Did wonders for my hair. Nothing for my scalp. I have tried for a couple of months now using this http://www.jason-natural.com/products/dandruff.php a couple of times a week. It’s missing a couple of ingredients that I feel were irritating my scalp that are in most shampoos.
I can’t stand the smell, so I use a tea-tree conditioner on the rest of my hair after the scalp treatment is complete. Treat the middle to back of the hair, not the scalp, with my preferred conditioner.
Excellent results so far. I’ve had one dandruffy flare-up in the past few months, but it was more stress-related (I changed some mood altering medications in my regimen) than a failing of the new product. Most dandruffy products fail on me after two or three weeks, puts me back at square zero.
What about Selsun Blue? (selenium sulfide) My dad used that occasionally for as long as I can remember. Of course he’s bald as a cue ball now. . . might not be the most ringing endorsement.
I especially like this bit from their FAQ:
“# How long should I leave the product on my hair? It is recommended while using Selsun Blue that you let the shampoo stay on your head for approximately 2 minutes. This allows the suspension system to break and the active to fall onto the head.”
It makes for a great mental image of tiny little selenium molecules bouncing down onto one’s head.
Nizoral is an anti-fungal shampoo, if the others don’t work this may be the right one.
I had Folliculitis BAD, and this was the only 'poo that did any help. It’s really expensive, though, at something like $15 for a small little bottle.
Dandruff can be caused by different causes so the remedy will be different.
Often dandruff is caused by fungal infection and fungal treatment is the remedy.