Here are the most common causes of dandruff

A majority of us have experienced an itchy dry scalp at least once in our lives. In fact, dandruff is actually more common than you think in kids, teens and adults. Dandruff is a scalp condition characterized by flaking of the skin and can be a little embarrassing. Think of a scenario where you’re all dressed to impress but your shoulder is full of flakes from your hair and you have no idea. Some people may associate that with hygiene issues but it actually has nothing to do with poor hygiene, at least most of the times. Normally, dandruff can be controlled and even treated with over the counter drugs or dandruff shampoos. But what actually causes dandruff? We have the details:

1. Irritated, oily skin also known as seborrheic dermatitis.

When you have this condition, your skin becomes red, greasy and is covered with flaky yellow or white scales. This condition can not only affect your scalp, but also other areas such as your eyes, backs of the ears, sides of the nose as well as breast and groin areas.

2. Failure to shampoo your hair enough.

If you leave your hair without washing it for a while, oil, skin cells from your scalp as well as dirty can build up, leading to dandruff.

Not washing the hair enough can lead to dandruff (Courtesy) ece-auto-gen

3. Dry skin.

Normally, when you have dry skin, redness and inflammation is not likely. However, the flakes will be smaller and less oily. Generally, if you suffer from dry skin, you’re probably going to have other dry parts of the body too such as legs and arms. The key to combating dry skin is hydrating a lot, avoiding hot showers which can rid your body off its natural oils and moisturizing a lot.

4. Contact dermatitis.

This basically translates to sensitivity to hair care products because of some ingredients that may be present in some of the hair care products such as chemicals in hair dyes, braids etc which can cause an itchy scalp.