Having very dark hair, even the slightest scalp flaking is embarrassingly obvious. So, I wash my hair twice a week with T-Gel to keep everything under control.
The key ingredient in T-Gel and similar products (not Head and Shoulders, but the stronger stuff) is coal tar. And boy howdy, you can smell it. Feh. Anyhoo–what is it about the coal tar that cures the dandruff?
My dermatologist told me the difference between selsun and coal tar, and I dutifully forgot it. I think one of them gets the dead skin off your head, and the other one makes it die slower. I’m going to look it up.
While you’re waiting for me to look it up you can read my ramblings on the topic. First, selsun gives coal tar a run for its money on the smelling-bad sweepstakes. Second, don’t rinse the coal tar off your head while taking a bath, and then bask in the bathwater… I’ve never had coal tar irritate my scalp, probably because I have protective layer of … well I don’t know why. On the other hand, coal tar gives bare skin the MAJOR ITCHIES! A couple of nights, I would lie in bed trying to fall asleep and couldn’t understand why my whole body was halfway electric with itches. Then I figured it out.
If you’re one of those earthling types who takes a shower to get clean and takes a bath for relaxation, it’s probably not a concern. On my planet, however, we love hot baths enough to do use them for both.
Apparently, it was initially described as skin treatment by the ancient Greeks.
This site, http://www.mayohealth.org/mayo/9808/htm/sebor.htm , says of seborrheic dermatitis,
“It’s thought to be due to an
abnormality of the oil (sebaceous) glands
and hair follicles. People with seborrheic
dermatitis seem to have increased sebum
or oil production. Secondarily, a yeast,
called pityrosporum, may grow in the
sebum, along with bacteria, making the
dermatitis more persistent.”
That’s the condition that causes dandruff most commonly. It’s the one I’ve probably got. Anyway, I’m wondering if one or more of the 10,000 constituents of coal tar has a fungus-control property in addition to whatever else it does.
Selsun stands for selenium sulfide. It is one of several treatments, including salicylic acid (which is a chemical relative of aspirin), coal tar, and sulfur. Basically, if somebody were to say “It’ll take nothing short of napalm and brimstone to clear up Boris’ scalp”, the wouldn’t be far wrong.
Another site, which looks promising, but I haven’t perused:
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/CONSUMER/CON0290d.html
Yummy!
Coal tar doesn’t cure dandruff. It is mildly effective for controlling dandruff. I don’t think anyone knows exactly how it works but that isn’t important since it has been obsolete for several years now. I think you will find that ketoconazole-containing shampoo is much, much more effective for controlling seborrheic dermatitis (dandruff) than is either selenium sulfide or coal tar. It costs more but is much less unpleasant than either of them and, in my experience, much more effective (if what you have is really seborrheic dermatitis, not psoriasis). Ketoconazole-containing shampoo has been sold in the U.S. under the brand name Nizoral for some years. I believe is is only sold by presription in the U.S. but is available without prescription in many other countries.
Wanna here something really strange…the smoke from coal tar cured my dog, or at least it appeared too. Years ago I had this darling little beagle/corgie. He has since passed on to his next doggie life but he is admittedly my most favorite of all time pets and can never be replaced in my heart by any other. Anyway, when he was less than a year old he developed a nasty case of bronchitis. I took him to the vet, got medication, twice. To no avail the dog kept coughing and was rapidly going downhill. My Nanny was still alive back then and had this friend named Jack. The guy was ancient, classically uneducated, but a sweet and helpful, hard working old guy. When he found out about my puppy he had me over. He had bought a can of coal tar, where he got it I don’t know. He put some of it into a large coffee can and lit it. Then he blew it out and made it smoke something awful. He grabbed my puppy’s head and stuck it in the can making sure he held it there long enough for the dog to enhale the smoke. Needless to say I was terribly upset because the puppy struggled and yelped and hated the treatment. He sent me home and told me if the dog wasn’t any better by the nex afternoon to bring him back for another “treatment”. Well much to my suprise the next day my husband and I noticed that the dog had stopped coughing so much. Within two days he had quit coughing entirely. Now I don’t know if the medication from the vet finally worked and the coal tar treatment was just a coincidence or if the damned old fashioned remedy really worked. I was suprised later to find out that the stuff was used for dandruff and similar skin conditions. There has to be some basis for some of these old wives tales don’t you think?
Need2know
I dunno, but isn’t coal tar supposed to be seriously carcinogenic? I remember reading that, and wondering how they could get away with putting it in shampoo and such.
For my money, the nizoral-based dandruff shampoos (which only recently became available without prescription) work far better than the coal tar or selsun products.