Dandruff caused by conditioner?

[kyuuei]

I have always had dandruff problems--since I can remember actively taking care of my hair actually. Head and shoulders didn't do anything, I've been using an expensive (but I get it for free) dandruff shampoo from DC Labs that kills the itch on the scalp and soothes it so that it doesn't flake off as much by rubbing it during the day. It's a pretty extensive treatment plan that I use.

However, I noticed something when I attempted to switch to all-natural shampoos.. I had about a good 3 months there where I was only using solid shampoo bars, and occasionally rubbing some body lotion directly onto my scalp whenever it felt itchy and/or dry and letting oils hydrate my ends.

My dandruff went down significantly. Within the first month, my scalp had not changed on its itchiness, and I noticed an actual 'increase' in dandruff. As the silicon was flaking out of my hair (because it isn't getting constant coats to keep it on) and being washed out of my hair, I was getting flakes of silicon out of my entire head. Talk about yuck.

After that all washed away though, I noticed my hair was unruly.. but that my scalp stopped itching. The flakes stopped happening. Of course, I still had some dandruff from my actual scalp sloughing off dead skin, but the extent of it wasn't noticeable at all.. A thorough scrubbing of my scalp would clean it away, and a bit of lotion rubbed in when the hair dried kept my scalp from overproducing oil.

I switched back to using regular shampoo/conditioner due to needing to identify something else, but the dandruff came back within a couple weeks of going back to regular shampoo and conditioner.

I think that the silicon itself was aggravating my scalp, so on top of making it overproduce oils it was flaking off at the roots naturally as the new hair grows in, creating all these flakes of 'dandruff' that are supposedly coming from my scalp.


My question is, has anyone else noticed this? Anyone who has switched to no-shampoo methods, or more natural methods of washing the hair.. did you have problems with dandruff that went away when you switched to these methods?

Anyone currently suffering from dandruff problems.. would you be willing to cut out conditioners for a while (read: approximately 3 months) to post results on if this helped at all?

 

[prplchknz]

weird head and shoulders does wonders for me, but who knows why it works for some but not others

 

[zago]

I used to have mild dandruff and it stopped when I switched to head and shoulders and also started rinsing it out more thoroughly. The dandruff can be caused by leaving a little bit of the shampoo in your hair. These days it is even less of a problem because I basically only use shampoo when I am about to go to the barber. Shampoo is unnecessary.

 

[011235813]

Not sure I can do no conditioner. My hair is super dry and would turn into a giant tangled frizzy mess if left unchecked. I skip shampoo sometimes, but never conditioner.

I guess I could try a natural conditioner or something?

I don't really get dandruff though.

 

[Tiltyred]

Certain conditioners and styling products make my head itch and flake -- it turns out I have psoriasis in my scalp, rather than dandruff, though. Head and Shoulders conditioning formula works great for me, and staying away from products with wheat in them. You'd be surprised how many hair styling products contain wheat.

 

[EJCC]

You sure that was silicon and not just the buildup of skin on your head coming off gradually?

I've had problems with eczema for my entire life -- a bit on my face, but almost entirely on my scalp -- and you get so much buildup on your scalp that the dandruff is probably 1/4-1/3 of the buildup up there. (Gross, but true.) Your dandruff definitely gets worse as you medicate your scalp and everything starts to flake off.

It doesn't make much sense to me for the silicon in the conditioner to have done that, but it would make a lot of sense for it to have been from sulfates from the shampoo. Sulfates oftentimes can cause dandruff and flaking/scaling on your scalp, because not only do sulfates strip your hair and dry it out, but they dry out your scalp as well*. Switching to all-natural shampoo would have meant that you no longer had sulfates in your hair, meaning your hair -- as well as your scalp -- was becoming more hydrated.

*Source: the internet and the curly hair community

 

[kyuuei]

Not sure I can do no conditioner. My hair is super dry and would turn into a giant tangled frizzy mess if left unchecked. I skip shampoo sometimes, but never conditioner.

I guess I could try a natural conditioner or something?

I don't really get dandruff though.

Lucky for you. I've been occasional natural shampoo and conditioner for a while now, and this has helped a ton. The weirdest thing is apple cider vinegar is *too* conditioning for my hair.. I cannot even put it on my roots anymore. It feels the way conditioner used to feel in my hair.

Certain conditioners and styling products make my head itch and flake -- it turns out I have psoriasis in my scalp, rather than dandruff, though. Head and Shoulders conditioning formula works great for me, and staying away from products with wheat in them. You'd be surprised how many hair styling products contain wheat.

I've never heard of this.. how does wheat mess with the hair?

You sure that was silicon and not just the buildup of skin on your head coming off gradually?

I've had problems with eczema for my entire life -- a bit on my face, but almost entirely on my scalp -- and you get so much buildup on your scalp that the dandruff is probably 1/4-1/3 of the buildup up there. (Gross, but true.)

It doesn't make much sense to me for the silicon in the conditioner to have done that, but it would make a lot of sense for it to have been from sulfates from the shampoo. Sulfates oftentimes can cause dandruff and flaking/scaling on your scalp, from the oil that your scalp creates to try and compensate for how the sulfates strip your hair and dry it out. Switching to all-natural shampoo would have meant that you no longer had sulfates in your hair, which would have kept your hair -- as well as your scalp -- hydrated.

I have the same thing in my scalp, it flakes just because that's a particularly easily annoyed spot on my body. That and my shins. Sulfates definitely helped with that. But I'm talking about the silicon in conditioner specifically.. it looked like dandruff, but throughout my hair, not just flaking from the top half. I don't have it now that I've been off traditional conditioner for over a month.. but I used to skip shampoo entirely and just use conditioner to clean my hair with Hair One, and I never got that from skipping out on shampoo.

 

[Glycerine]

I have super thick, stick-straight hair and I never use conditioner. It makes my hair really gross/ oily and some would even make me break me out. Unless your hair is rather difficult to handle, reacts to moisture, highly damaged from regularly styling it, etc., I don't think conditioner is necessary.

EDIT: I used to have dandruff for a few years. I used Neutrogena T-Gel (worked great but smelled weird) for several years and then Selsun Blue for a few months and after I got off Selsun Blue, my dandruff has disappeared since (no idea why). All the while, I never used conditioner regularly (mainly detangler) so if you think conditioner is causing the dandruff, then you could try to forgo it.

But then again, I have only colored my hair for like 3 months in my lifetime and blow-dry it a few times a year.

 

[Lexicon]

I have super thick, stick-straight hair and I never use conditioner. It makes my hair really gross/ oily and some would even make me break me out. Unless your hair is rather difficult to handle, reacts to moisture, highly damaged from color-treating, I don't think conditioner is necessary.

I tend to have oily skin/hair so I'm sensitive to a lot of products, too. My hair's retardedly thick, too. There are some specifically "oil free" clarifying conditioners that worked really well for me (I'm on some acne meds that actually control skin oiliness so I don't need this anymore). Keep the hair soft but no knots to deal with, no oiliness.

As for the OP about dandruff issues.. if silicone is the irritant for you.. L'Oreal's Ever Pure line is organic, and silicone free. Works great for me. My skin all over is super sensitive, so this stuff works out pretty well. Gentle cleansing/moisturizing.

Once a month I use a deep-clarifying shampoo to get rid of any buildup on my scalp or in my hair- but I color my hair so this might not be necessary for others. I use Abba Pure Detox shampoo. Definitely condition after cuz it makes things feel a bit dry, but overall lighter, in a 'healthy' way. Hair is dead so it can't really be made healthy.. hah.. but you get what I mean.



Living in different locations, I noticed some places had "hard water" - and it irritated my skin/scalp like crazy. I dunno if you've factored that in yet, mon.

Either way, good luck!

 

[Tiltyred]

Kyuuei, I suspect wheat is an allergen for me.

I also figured out that what I had was not dandruff, it was psoriasis.

 

[Fidelia]

Please get tested for celiac disease! Those are classic symptoms! (Sorry, I'll quit harping...)

 

[Southern Kross]

Please get tested for celiac disease! Those are classic symptoms! (Sorry, I'll quit harping...)

Really? What about a lot of hair fall and more general skin problems (dryness, eczema etc)?

I have problems with my scalp and dandruff too.