Dandruff or Dry Scalp article

[peachfuzzz]

This was very helpful to me and I thought I'd share it here. Very eye opening. If you read the article, tell me what you think??!!
Here's the link:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/937047/dandruff_vs_dry_scalp_how_to_recognize.html?cat=69

 

[JinaRicci]

Thanks for sharing Peachfuzzz.

On the majority of the points shared in the article, I respectfully disagree. I think that the author has a few good points on dry scalp but has presented old, false beliefs on dandruff.

First, dandruff is caused by a fungus, not a bacteria.

http://www.ehow.com/way_5143022_tips-remove-fungal-dandruff.html

This fungus lives on everyone's scalp. Some people are more prone to developing dandruff than others for several reasons. Because the fungus is already on everyone, dandruff is not contagious. Of course, I still wouldn't want to use someone else's combs and stuff...

You SHOULD use anti-fungal shampoos to get rid of dandruff. I think many ladies here will attest to this- even some hair growth effects- hence the use of yeast infection creams (e.g. MN) for growth.

I think what bothered me the most about this article is the following:

2. Bad Hygiene

"People who do not wash their hair often enough are susceptible to dandruff because bacteria which sits on the scalp too long will mix with the sebum causing dandruff. Everyone should wash their hair no less than every other day. Keeping in mind that African American people, have hair that is structured identical to all other races, however due to the extremely thick and over curly nature of the hair , it is more susceptible to dandruff, because oil and sweat do not dehydrate as easily from a scalp whereas the hair is very thick and does not allow air to hit the scalp as easily."

The idea that AAs in general have bad hygiene and so have more dandruff is wrong. Of course anyone who doesn't wash their hair often enough will get buildup of sebum that the fungus feeds on and be more susceptible but other ethnicities who have a higher wash frequency also get dandruff- so this idea doesn't make sense. Also AAs may have lower wash frequency but produce less sebum.

I didn't mean to write so much but I don't like when professionals lead people astray with false information. Hope this helps.

 

[peachfuzzz]

Thanks for clearing this up! I'm just searchin to figure out whats going on with my scalp and hair to make sure I'm getting a proper start. I did feel as though the hygiene comment was targeted towards AAs as if to say that we are dirty. It even had me contemplating whether or not I was wrong for not washing my hair more often.