dandruff advice, please <...dull and unsexy warning>

[vivariumvivariumsvivaria]

13 year old boy - has always had a bit of a flaky scalp, but, the last year has been grim. He's dark haired and you can see flakes from a distance, school mates are commenting.

We've tried T-gel, head and shoulders, neutrogena and coconut oil soaking in overnight. He washes his hair twice or three times a week. He's starting to get a few spots and a bit of greasy hair, but, it's not too bad. Has shaved once, so, puberty is going on, but, I've never heard of dandruff as a puberty effect.

Any advice? Poor kid's getting self conscious - not really ideal when your body's doing weird shit all over the place, really.

TIA

I would say a daily shower and hair wash every morning using head and shoulders is the way to go. At 13 washing your hair twice a week is not going to cut it.

Aw poor lad! I feel for him as I have always suffered with dandruff. I found some relief with elvive anti dandruff for men shampoo. I think there's a couple of types and both seemed to work for me . They then stop working and I have to have a break and go back to it! It's awful. I have also tried everything, T gel etc, but nothing works at all apart from elvive. Good luck.

This shampoo was recommended to my DD, you can also get it free on prescription. We tried everything you suggested and it did nothing, this was a game changer.

Hers was awful, still comes back occasionally so we still use it every other time. It’s not great at washing the hair as it only has 2% shampoo so I put this on, leave a few minutes then rewash with normal shampoo as hers was a tad greasy after.

www.amazon.co.uk/Nizoral-Anti-Dandruff-Shampoo-60/dp/B001ETUD5I

On prescription? So, do you reckon it's reasonable that if you 've tried OTC stuff you see a GP about it?

It seems like overkill - but, actually, I was thinking about it as it is making him self conscious. Don't want to waste a GP's time, but, it maybe is a dermatological thing?

Thanks for the tips - will step him up to daily hair washing and see how we go.

I've tried every shampoo going for dry scalp, even things from dr.

The only thing that's worked for me is the body shops ginger shampoo for dry skin. It's a miracle worker. I'm not normally a fan of the body shop but I was recommended it by my hairdresser and honestly never looked back.

I discovered the nitty gritty nit comb does a brilliant job of taking out dandruff flakes. Use it when washing/conditioning hair. It transformed my life. Im guessing any nit comb would do - but the nitty gritty one is stainless steel (life time warranty) so you can leave it in the shower, plus its stronger then another combs so easier to use and its ends are rounded so they don't scratch the scalp.
Although I would say don't use it 24hrs before you get your hair coloured as it then can make the scalp sensitive.
I also think he might need some more natural oils in his diet from fish, avocados, nuts etc or supplements. Dandruff is a sign of dry scalp.

The Nirozal shampoo is sold in boots and was about £10 a bottle, was told by them to go to the doctor and get it prescribed as it was for a child. DDs hair was so so bad but actually since using it not only has it dramatically improved she has new hair growth coming through, possible it’s some cradle cap left over.

Hers is also on repeat prescription as if we go a few goes without using it it does tend to come back so I would go to your docs if I were you.

my son was the same,in the end i bought a huge bottleof Asda own 2in1 ant dandruff 80p and it made a huge differrence

great for shaving my legs also

also get him to massage the scalp when shampooing,many people dont and it will get the natural oils working better

Definitely try Nizoral. Sainsbury’s sell it £5 for the smaller bottle or you can sometimes get a slighty larger bottle from the pharmacy which is better value. I wouldn’t go to the GP personally.

I use Vosene with a scalp brush to really get it in there. Wash my hair twice a week and my scalp's never been better. Head and Shoulders never did anything for me.

Best to use a good conditioner as it's quite harsh!

The biggest difference to my own flaky scalp was switching to SLS-Free shampoo.
Spa is very drying so you end up trapped in a vicious cycle of using strong shampoo to shift the flakes but creating more through the skin being dried.

Going gluten free is The best (sometimes Only) effective treatment.

Nizoral or Selsun to get it under control and then an SLS free with maiantance Selsun/Nizoral is the only thing that works for me.
The faith in nature one here is good, plus Jason

www.gentlebubbles.com/buy-phthalate-free-products/sulfate-paraben-phthalate-free-shampoo/

Definitely worth a trip to the gp if those don’t work within a few weeks.

Another vote for Body Shop Ginger Shampoo, I tried loads of different things when I suddenly got dry itchy scalp ( thanks menopause) and my teen DS uses it now it’s brilliant.

Get nizoral - it genuinely, genuinely works. I get flaky patches and so does OH, at times so bad that I can’t wear black tops. Nizoral sorted it v quickly when every other anti-dandruff treatment didn’t.

Try washing it every day. DH gets it bad if he doesn't wash everyday. Also, have you used the proper medicated T-gel? I think it comes in a box where you can't see the bottle and is slightly darker than the other stuff. This is the only thing that's worked on DH's hair.

If you don't want to go to the GP, perhaps speak to someone at the pharmacy? They will have a wider range of specialist treatments to recommend.

My daughter also has a really dry scalp I’ve found that Superdrug’s Trichology shampoo is really helping

Polytar (can buy on eBay if it’s out of stock in Boots) works for me - seems to be stronger than Nizoral.

Hibiscrub as a shampoo.
Life changing!

Nizoral works wonders.

My scalp can be the same and I have black hair. I was desperate and a friend suggested Oilatum shampoo. I've since learnt Nizoral works too and is a bit cheaper, about a £5 for a tiny bottle from Amazon. I use that every time I wash my hair until it's all gone and then I use Alberto Balsam mint shampoo, which is a quid a bottle everywhere. Seems to be the only one I've found my scalp can tolerate. Every single time I try something else my scalp goes flaky again and I have to use Oilatum or Nizoral before using the mint one again.

Phb balancing shampoo and conditioner alternating with their scent free shampoo and conditioner and use a comb. You will see a difference within a week Dd1 did, I didn't have visible flakes but always had really itchy scalp which disappeared and a friend who suffered with dandruff badly has also seen a difference

Head and shoulders clinical solutions here is the only one that works for me, now elvive have stopped selling the orange one. It's the selenium apparently. I don't have to use it everyday but twice a week keeps the flakes at bay.

Nizoral (ketaconazole) is epic, as is selsun. The head and shoulders clinical (smaller, cylindrical bottles) has the same active ingredient as selsun, selenium, in it and works well for me.

Unfortunately it really is just finding the one that works best for him. If you’ve tried a fair few different options it’s not beyond the realms of understanding to see your GP, as having a bad scalp can be really uncomfortable.

I ended up going to the doctor and it turned out to be eczema. A short course of treatment (betnovate scalp treatment i think) and it went. Occasionally returns slightly and I just use the treatment for a few days.
I had tried various things, and consulted a pharmacist, and nothing had worked.