First post here - tackling very dry scalp

#1

Hi guys,

I’m currently on about 15 weeks of almost water-only and I’m experiencing mega flakes and my scalp is starting to look very dry and almost scaly in places, seems most pronounced in the fringe area but this might just be because it’s the easiest place to see. The flakes are white ish and just look like very dry skin. I’ve suffered with flaking for almost as long as I can remember but I’ve never noticed these scales before and the flaking seems to just be getting worse as time goes on.

My scalp can get quite itchy sometimes but not unbearably like some other people seem to sometimes experience.

My hair feels quite nice and soft most of the time, it’s just my scalp that’s having a rough time. It’s pretty embarrassing and knocks my confidence when I can see flakes coming out of my hair and landing visibly on my clothes.

It’s worth noting that I also experience this when I grow my beard out. Not any serious scaling to any extent but I do get flakes coming out if I ruffle it. My facial skin is also ever so slightly dry, but not too bad, it can just get a bit flaky around the nose area mainly. I use a moisturiser and beard oil to combat this which works with varying degrees of success.

My routine is:

  • scrub hair/scalp with Denman D81S boar bristle brush 6/7 days a week for at least a few minutes. Have read elsewhere that maybe this is too much and could be damaging?
  • also scritch scalp before/after using bbb.
  • shower (including wet hair) 6/7 days a week. soft water area. cool/warm water. Have started only wetting hair every other day to try help this problem.
  • Gently towel dry hair after shower. Sometimes use hair dryer on cool setting.

I’m a bit concerned that the little nylon bristles in my bbb might be irritating my scalp. Any ideas on this?

I’ve recently tried letting aloe vera sit on the scalp for 20/30 minutes before rinsing off. It actually seemed to really help initially, but now my scalp has got much worse again so not sure.

I’ve also even more recently tried a BS/ACV wash. It currently feels like my hair is quite brittle and my scalp is still shedding these little flakes, so it doesn’t seem to have helped (yet).

I’m considering buying a natural conditioner to moisturise my scalp. Maybe something like this, but I’ve also seen this recommended.

I’m male, 21, with dark and thick hair about 3/4 in long on top and short on back and sides.

Would really appreciate any ideas you guys might have. Cheers.

#2

It sounds like your hair is severely lacking oil and hydration.
Olive oil/hair oil product + water on the dry areas. Cut back on the full water washes, if you rinse too much oil out of your hair you lose the ability to lock in moisture, your scalp will dry more and seasonal changes can make this worse.

Do NOT BS/ACV if you’re flaking or dry, you shouldn’t BS period, it’s really bad and strips everything out of your hair, that will make it 100x worse and yes, that’ll be 100% what’s making your hair brittle.
Even with healthy hair, BS is only recommended once a month and only if you need to ‘reset’ your hair (not roots), for example if you have extremely thick hair (eg: African American hair), even then, there’s a good degree of aftercare required to throw back in essential oils to prevent damage.
Seriously, no BS.

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#3

Also suggest use cool/ cold water on your hair…no warm/hot water…that just washes the oil away and dries your scalp. Don’t wet your hair everyday…try every few days or once a week.
Don’t be too vigorous when brushing your hair…and brush different directions.

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