Sweating, Washing and Dandruff

Bubbletonic:

so youre still using the shampoo? how long have you been using it? And do you still wash every other day? By the way, your dreadlocks look great on you. Are those neglected?

daisymelan:

I tried soaks for like 3 weeks but didnt see change, however i was washing with shampoo when I did. Perhaps they work now. It will be my next option if the aloe doesnt work. WATER ONLY by itself didnt seem to work on me... maybe water only + rosemary soaks (or would it NOT be water only with the soaks? lol )

 

i admire your commitment to not use chemicals buddy. your head is obviously driving you nuts but you're really trying every other option out there. well done

 

Thanks, yea, i think chemicals would just disguise the problem. I had been having some stomach problems, and they were never cured by the medicines the doc gave me. The aloe i drink did get me rid of it that same day i first drank it.

I hate how doctors dont even aim for what causes the problem to cure it, but just aim at the problem itself... thats lame... I know natural medicine probably doesnt aim at causes either, but it wont have as much side effects, and it also feels cleaner.

 

in my experience 'natural' practitioners are more likely to try to tackle the cause of the problem. the medical doctors i've seen are all about tackling symptoms. which isn't to say that all medical doctors are like that. but in my experience.

 

apparently the aloe isnt working either ... Today I used some shampoo again to get rid of the sebum/oil or whatever it is that my head is full of and the irritation came back. My hair feels too oily... and i just cant get rid of the flakes .... After coming out from showering my scalp was way too greasy so I got back in and I washed really hard but didnt make too much of a difference I seriously want to get rid of the flakes.... they dont make me feel good at all Its a bunch of em all over always.... im becoming insane with them

 

just stay on a routine man, every other day, i personally wash or at least rinse mine every 3rd day. everyone has/had dandruff, just stay on a washing/rinising routine, whatever you choose to do, your hair'll eventually learn who's boss. And if you're using shampoo or soap or anything besides water, try using less of it.

 

as a couple others have said, wash your hair when you feel like it, its not going to cause mold as long as its dry. I was my dreads every other day with a residue free shampoo. When I get out of the shower, I hang a towel on the curtain rod and sling my dreads against it to get the water out and it dries VERY quickly after that. If I'm immediately going to bed, I'll just blow dry it. I have very clean dreads and have never had a problem with mold, dandruff, oil, or anything. I could never go with water only because my hair gets oily easily and it feels oily/dirty without shampoo. I also don't like the smell of the natural oils in hair. Washing your hair frequently won't hurt with progress and, if anything, will actually help. I've never understood why people think when they get dreads they have to start washing their hair less. I stick to the same washing schedule I've always had minus the conditioner (which I still use every 4 months or so to make my dreads soft.) and with a residue free shampoo. If you've never had problems with dandruff before you started your dreads, I'd say go with whatever routine you were using before, (minus conditioner and with a more dread-friendly shampoo) just make sure to dry your hair thoroughly afterwards, which isn't near as hard as a lot of people make it seem like.

 

Have you tried the rosemary soak? Seriously try that out and see if it helps.

 

I did, but was using shampoo then(rosemary too by the way). Ill try in some more weeks, since im still checking if the aloe works. I really dont care if it takes me 3 years to dread, just want to get rid of my dandruff. I started getting it before I started backcombing the dreads on the back of my head. then i started neglecting. Probably started getting it when i stopped washing every day, dont really remember. I remember having dandruff way back, but with no itches, probably because it all got washed away every day. and also, it didnt stick in my hair since it wasnt knotted at all.

 

I would like to wash my hair more but having them the thickness they are means that they kinda stink while drying so I wash once a week to make sure they're not offensive smelling and are dry for monday morning. I'm lucky to have a great scalp [sorry OP don't mean to rub it in]

I think I've exhausted all my advice in this thread. But I think you're not trying things out long enough. I know it's a pain for you and the problem is getting too much but honestly I don't think 3 weeks of trying a method is long enough. From experience my hair took a good couple of months to adjust to the wash routine I have now. Sorry I can't be of any more help.

 

oh no, ive tried long enough on what ive tried. Im still on the aloe, thats 3 weeks. I just finished my second month on water only. I just like to post my progress. Im sure it will be useful for some in the future. Ive read many topics, but with very few like my case... so this will be one of very few. thanks for all the advice. Its good to know theres always people that can try to help

 

Washing less was the best thing that ever happened to my scalp. It took about two months to fully adjust but I don't get dandruff at all anymore.

Also for those of us with a full head of locks with a decent amount of length, the process of washing and drying becomes rather time consuming. My gawds I couldn't imagine my water bill if I washed every second day. And even with a hair dryer, it still takes me at min. a good hour to dry - doing the hair drying in intervals to allow the deep moisture to wick out and to prevent heat damage.

Dandruff is a fungus. I would suggest using T-gel or another medicated shampoo. Blow dry your scalp (this takes away the moist environment that fungi live off of) and a day or two before you wash, apply straight tea tree oil to your scalp.

 

I sometimes feel like my scalp is irritated or sensitive when my hair is still wet, and mostly when it is cold. Thanks for the advice, I will consider it. Im also at 2 months into water only, so my scalp should be balanced out right now, or perhaps it will take a little longer because it still feels oily. Or is it because of the sebum? :S

 

i had never heard that dandruff was fungal, so i just looked it up.. from what i've briefly read dandruff itself isn't fungal.. but it can be caused by a fungal infection.

since it's been such a problem and it seems like it can be caused by a lot of different things, at this point i myself would probably go see a dermatologist. at least they could hopefully tell you what is causing it? you don't have to treat it the way they suggest, but having a diagnosis would help.

it really sucks that this hasn't gone away!

 

Thank you for clearing that up. Apparently I missed the phase 'is caused by' or 'related' in my hasting posting. Or I assumed that people would catch my drift. Guess we're cracking down on being all 'scientific' in the forum these days.

I'll rephrase it: YOU HAVE A MILD YEAST INFECTION ON YOUR HEAD!

I wonder if vagisil would help the scalp itching?

 

lol that wasn't me giving you shit or trying to prove you wrong. i had just never heard that so i went and looked it up

 

I've been washing with water only for about 10 weeks by now, but my hair always feels greasy. Im using not so hot water, and cold at the end of each wash.

My dandruff has improved a bit, however, it is still here after about 5 weeks of using aloe. It was starting to go away but it came back with my last wash. I guess the oils may be affecting my situation, perhaps having too much of it and suddenly spreading it all over my hair (something I started doing about 3 washes ago), or maybe just having too much, I dont know.

I haven't tried a deep cleanse since long ago, mayb I should? what do you think?

 

A rosemary soak is the only thing that cleared up my dandruff. I say go for it!

 

Go for it

 

vitamin and nutritional deficiencies can result in scalp problems. For me, i know my diet is out of whack if i start getting the itchies or flakes.
I'll throw a couple packs of EmergenC 's multivitamins in my water bottle, and if that doenst clear it up i make a tonic of vitamin c and d and a splash of vinegar to soak my head in.
Hope thats helpful, it works great for me.