Let Us Treat Dandruff
From the time a person is born the old skin dies and flakes off giving room for the new cells to grow. It is absolutely normal to have a small amount of flaking. We don’t usually notice the flakes on arms, backs, legs, but it is more visible on the scalp because hair doesn’t let the dead flakes fall out easily as on the other parts of the body.
Unfortunately it is impossible to cure the flakes completely, but excessive scaling can be controlled and treated by appropriate care.
Dandruff has been aggravating humans for many centuries and at different times people were coming up with different ideas to improve the conditions of their scalp. Nowadays everybody knows about anti-dandruff shampoos which contain various medications: zinc pyrithione (Head & Shoulders, ZNP), selenium sulfide (Selsun Blue) and Ni zoral AD. If those do not help there are more serious treatments such as tar (Ionil T, T/gel, Pentrax) or sulfur (Meted or Sebulex). Sometimes it helps better when two or three different shampoos are alternated.
Before the invention of shampoos people were using natural remedies to wash their hair and treat dandruff. Here are several of them:
- Baking soda. Instead of using a shampoo or soap, massage baking soda into the scalp to absorb extra oil. Rinse thoroughly without a shampoo. After several weeks of treatment the flakes should go away making the hair smooth and shiny.
- Beet. The origin of this treatment is not known, but for many years beets have been good means for working with dandruff. Both tops and roots of a beet have to be carefully washed and boiled in water. The liquid should be massaged into the scalp every night. White beets are usually harder to find, but they work better on the flakes.
- Lime juice. After the hair is washed, a teaspoon of lime juice should be used for the last rinse – it prevents dandruff and adds glow to hair.
- Tealeaves in limewater. The idea is similar to the previous one: used tealeaves (about 5 teaspoons) should be boiled in limewater. When it is cooled, the liquid should be used at the last rinse.
There are many other remedies, such as fenugreek seeds, green gram power, snake gourd, hot oil, cider vinegar, etc. The means are endless, but one thing has to be chosen, because a mix of them can cause even worse problems than dandruff.
In addition to washing the hair some specialists advise various diets:
- All-fruit diet. For five days in a row a person should have an all-fruit diet which consists of three meals a day made out of juicy fruits like apples, peaches, plums, etc.
- Well-balanced diet. Can be established right after all-fruit diet. A person should eat healthy meals with a high percent of raw food. From time to time it can be interrupted by 3-4 days of all-fruit diet again.
It is advised to avoid certain food during hair and skin treatment: citrus fruits, bananas, tinned fruits, strong coffee and tea, pickles and processed food have to be excluded from the ration.
A few more hints to improve the condition of hair and scalp:
- A little sunshine. While excessive ultraviolet light is harmful, a person should a little time outdoors with no cover (about 30 minutes). Sun-light has an anti-inflammatory effect on scaly skin. This is why dandruff usually gets worse in autumn and winter, but improves in summer.
- Massage. While washing hair or before going to bed, massage your head with fingertips (no nails) – this increases blood flow and loosens the flakes.
- Lather twice. Anti-dandruff shampoos usually require double lather. After applying the shampoo on the hair first time leave it there for a few minutes to let the medication do its work. Rinse it and apply the shampoo second time. It can be rinsed immediately. The second lather usually leaves a little bit of medicine till next wash.
Judy O’Connor
Posted on February 8, 2009
Filed Under Hair Care
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