Sore and itchy scalp with faux dreads! Halp!

[GraceJones]

Ladies, I've been bad. I have seborrheic dermatitis (dandruff) but I hadn't washed my hair in a month. My hair was in faux dreads. I've been using faux dreads as a protective style for about 6 months. I keep them in for about 2 months at a time. I've only given myself about a week's break in between installations.

My derm prescribed me Ketoconazole shampoo and also Fluocinolone scalp oil to use but I hadn't used it in a while. I've been neglecting myself due to work.

When I took out my last install my scalp was soooo sore! It hurt to even move my hair. I thought if I simply washed my hair with the medicated shampoo, the pain would get better. Wrong. I got another install against my better judgment. My scalp was sooo sore and itchy. I had to take it out after a week. I couldn't take it. I took it out and washed it again with shampoo.

Now I'm just wearing my natural hair in 4 sections twisted. I just want my scalp to feel better. It's still a bit painful to the touch but wayyyy better than before. I'm not sure what the issue was. Was it the weight of the faux dreads on my scalp? Is it because of my seborrheic dermatitis?

Anyway, I'm just gonna wear my natural hair for a while. I just don't know how to protective style it! I don't like manipulating my hair more than once a month because I'm a slow grower.

 

[Black Ambrosia]

It could’ve been an allergic reaction to the hair. I discovered this years ago. Whenever I’d get braids my scalp was on fire for the first week. Looking back it makes sense that it stopped after a week once my hair started to grow out a bit and the synthetic hair was no longer touching my scalp. I read somewhere that the hair is treated with something that’s basically an irritant. I was getting crochet braids at the time and had the braider not use any additional hair when braiding down my hair. So the only hair touching my scalp was the crocheted hair. My scalp still itched (which makes sense because the hair was still in contact with my scalp) but not nearly as much.

I don’t recall the specifics but soaking the hair in ACV was recommended before installing. I wish I had the amount of time and the dilution ratio for you. I don’t think it was longer than 10 minutes. No idea on how much to use.

Anyway the only thing that gave my scalp any relief was ACV but sadly it seemed to only help when it sat on my scalp. I eventually found the GIRL + HAIR CLEAR worked better for me. It’s an ACV rinse but it doesn’t smell as strong as ACV and the scalp relief seemed to last longer though it may be that my scalp was in better condition by the time I started using it.

 

[GraceJones]

It could’ve been an allergic reaction to the hair. I discovered this years ago. Whenever I’d get braids my scalp was on fire for the first week. Looking back it makes sense that it stopped after a week once my hair started to grow out a bit and the synthetic hair was no longer touching my scalp. I read somewhere that the hair is treated with something that’s basically an irritant. I was getting crochet braids at the time and had the braider not use any additional hair when braiding down my hair. So the only hair touching my scalp was the crocheted hair. My scalp still itched (which makes sense because the hair was still in contact with my scalp) but not nearly as much.

I don’t recall the specifics but soaking the hair in ACV was recommended before installing. I wish I had the amount of time and the dilution ratio for you. I don’t think it was longer than 10 minutes. No idea on how much to use.

Anyway the only thing that gave my scalp any relief was ACV but sadly it seemed to only help when it sat on my scalp. I eventually found the GIRL + HAIR CLEAR worked better for me. It’s an ACV rinse but it doesn’t smell as strong as ACV and the scalp relief seemed to last longer though it may be that my scalp was in better condition by the time I started using it.

Yeah but it just started. I’ve been getting faux Locs for the past 6 months with the same type of hair so I’m not sure what happened. The pain also started when I had much new growth from my old set of Locs.