Yellow crusts/flakes on scalp

[hoomaeyy]

Can anyone tell me what they think this might be?

My Daughter has always had flakes, dry scalp or little "scabs" on her scalp. It improves but always comes back.

I wash her hair every 3 days and can't think that I'm doing anything wrong but any tips or advice welcome!!

Thanks

It’s cradle cap. Totally normal, best to ignore, it will resolve itself.

I've got the exact same issue with my 10 year old just now it seems to be getting worse this is some photos I took earlier. I used aldi version of head and shoulders on her hair last night which has made it worse.

It’s cradle cap. I put oil on my daughter’s head and leave it a while. Then scrape all the flakes off with a comb.

It’s a reaction to parabans or SLS (sodium laurel sulphate) in shampoo and/or bubble bath

Check the ingredients list of the toiletries you use and buy some that don’t have any of those ingredients and it will clear up really quickly

Childs Farm products don’t have them but most children’s brands such as Dove and Johnson’s do

I think Holland and Barrett guarantee all the products they stock are SLS and paraban free

Dd had similar a few weeks ago, the pharmacist in Boots recommended Polytar shampoo and that cleared in within a few weeks

Cradle cap. As PP says, oil is good on it. Otherwise it should resolve itself. My DD had it recently and it just crumbled off after washing her hair one evening.

It is like a waxy cradle cap. My son had this until he was 7 years old. The best thing I found was to saturate it with olive oil overnight. Then the next day sit him in front of the telly and gently loosen it off with a comb (don't scratch at it if it won't come off because it'll be sore). Once I'd removed it all it only came back very mildly. It went altogether after a few times.

If it does turn out to be cradle cap, olive oil is the best thing for it. The cradle cap shampoos are next to useless

Yes I think cradle cap. I second olive oil and maybe a bit of lavender oil in it if she's not allergic. My dd had it chronically & this sorted it

Cradle cap as others have said. My three year old gets it often if I'm not careful about what shampoo I use on her hair.

Johnson's cotton touch scalp oil is an absolute dream for loosening the flakes. I leave it on overnight and they just brush off the next day. And if I use child's farm shampoo it doesn't come back.

It’s a reaction to parabans or SLS (sodium laurel sulphate) in shampoo and/or bubble bath

Nope. It is obviously cradle cap.

If she’s a baby, it’s probably cradle cap.
if she’s a few years old (her hair looks older than fluffy baby hair), then could psoriasis. There are various shampoos that can help on the first instance T Gel is one, but ask a pharmacist. Dead Sea Minerals shampoo from health food shops is good too. Don’t wash it too often? Not every day!

if it doesn’t clear up, she may need a referral to a dermatologist. I grew out of mine in my 20s.

Ahh great, thank you everyone!

She is 5 so I was starting to worry that it should have gone by now but good to hear that it's not just her and that I'm not doing anything wrong!

We have been using the Johnsons baby shampoo. I didn't realise that wouldn't be helping it. I will look up the Child's farm & Polytar suggestions.

Thank you so much!

cradle cap or seborrheic dermatitis/dandruff. It can be a chronic condition linked to overgrowth of malassezia fugus, which always has a tendancy to come back in people with certain skin types ie. those with sensitive skin who have a slight sebum imbalance. Certain ingredients will help it but some shampoos can make it worse as the skin barrier can become a bit compromised and oversensitive.

My DD had this, nothing worked so the doctor prescribed medicated shampoo and some coal tar cream (called Sebco, not sure if it's available over the counter?) to rub on before washing. It cleared it up really quickly.

Just remembered that I used to use olive oil to try and clear it up! It did start working as well and then I stupidly thought it had cleared up.

Will get on to the suggestions!

Yes, which in non-babies, is very often caused by a reaction to ingredients in shampoos

mine get it when MIL insists on washing their hair with shitty Johnson’s no more tears, it looks exactly like that
I’ve seen the same in several friends kids as well. It always clears up when they switch shampoo brands

@SW1amp do you think that could be the cause of my daughter's? I posted photos further up and mentioned its worse today after using a certain shampoo.

Melt a bit of coconut oil (that you would cook with) in the microwave and rub into scalp before bed, clears up a dream within a couple days, might just need to rinse out in morning as hair will look greasy but it's well worth doing

This can be caused by seborrheic dermatitis or psosaris, if it doesn't clear up with olive oil or medicated shampoo I would go to the GP as it may need something stronger.

I only say this because I suffered from similar in my early teens, and my mum did the olive oil thing, which did nothing but gave me greasy hair. It got worse and I ended up losing patches of hair which did absolutely nothing for my fragile teen self confidence 😡Eventually I took myself to the GP (my mum wouldn't take me) and I got steroid lotion which cleared it up.

I have since been diagnosed with psoriasis.