Itchy white stuff on scalp

[MissKrampus]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone else has this or managed to get rid of it?

I've always liked my hair, it's been the one physical feature of mine that I've been happy with. A few years ago I bought a new shampoo, not knowing that it was SLS free. I used it and my hair looked really greasy and nasty. So I stopped. But then I decided to try the 'no poo' method, having gotten it into my head that I should maybe give up using shampoo. This lasted 8 weeks, with me using bicarb and apple cider vinegar. I understand there's a detox period but it just never seemed to get past this and looked rank, and I was worried that people would be talking bout me, so I stopped.

I then decided to try more natural shampoos and tried various types. My hair always seemed to have a section that looked greasy, eventually it stopped but it took a while. However that's when the itchy problem started. My scalp tends to get a white buildup on it, especially near the crown of my head. Occasionally if you scrape a nail over it you'll get buildup under the nail, or tiny hard white balls of stuff. It is not visible when you look in a mirror, so not like flakes of dandruff (nothing on shoulders either). It's just confined to the scalp. Sometimes it gets pretty itchy and I'll give in and try Head & Shoulders, or maybe some tea tree mixed in coconut oil. Which helps for a day or two but it always comes back. Sigh.

I'm not sure if it's dry skin or sebhorric dermatitis (sp?). I don't use any other products on my hair, I just shampoo it. I'm trying to stick to palm oil free products so I'd try anything that's palm oil free but not sure if this is a job for the GP?

Thanks for any help.

There is a shampoo called Nizarol you can buy. I think you have to ask over the counter in the chemist. You may have a fungal infection,

Thanks Diamond! I'd mentioned the itchiness to my GP a couple of years ago and he'd suggested some stuff from Boots, think it was T-Gel but he said it stinks? I didn't try it though but this Nirazol stuff sounds interesting. It does sound kind of fungal. Even my hairbrush ends up coated in grey waxy stuff. This never used to happen.

Hope the shampoo helps.

Bought a bottle in the supermarker yesterday and tried it last night - scalp feels much better! Long may it continue!

Yey, I love a happy scalp story ending!

I can guarantee it will be visible . I suffer too and L'Oréal do an amazing men's anti dandruff shampoo that works brilliant

I never had any white flakes on hair/shoulders so I don't think it's dandruff. Just white stuff under nail if I scratched my scalp Wondered if it was seborrhic dermatitis but all the photos I saw online showed raw, scabby scalps. Mine looks normal, it's just berluddy itchy! It would be a low grade itch for a few days and then slowly build up to when I was scratching it a lot for relief. Hopefully not noticeable to others My hair had also taken on a bit of a 'fake shine' it looked like Barbie's hair (shiny plastic appearance if that makes sense!) and I'd wondered if that was due to whatever it was o my scalp coating the hair shaft. The same waxy grey stuff that was coating my hairbrushes, yuck.

But hopefully the Nizoral will help it. Feels good so far! It's so nice to not feel itchy.

Nizoral is fab, I’d also recommend using a deep cleaning shampoo once in a while. Redken’s Cleansing Creme is lovely.

Neutrogena T-Gel is excellent and really does work.
The lather is left on for about three minutes before rinsing.
It doesn't stink - it smells of coal tar which is a good, clean smell imo.