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Dandruff Hair Loss: Causes & How To Stop It

Hair Health

8 Min Read

By Nutrafol Team2019-07-22

Maybe you’ve noticed white flakes dusting your shoulders or covering your hair, and you’re worried. Luckily, there’s no need to worry that your scalp is suffering from an unusual medical disease. It’s probably just dandruff. Most people will deal with dandruff at some point in their lives, so you’re not alone. Many people, however, worry that their dandruff causes hair loss and early thinning or balding.

What is dandruff?

Dandruff is a very common skin condition on the scalp. The skin on your scalp is just like the skin on the rest of your body: when it gets irritated, it will have a reaction. Dandruff can sometimes be the reaction. To understand how dandruff develops, it’s important to understand the process of new skin on your scalp.

Everyday your scalp sheds dead skin cells and constantly replaces them with new cells. Normally this is an invisible process: the dead skin cells fall off individually and you can’t see them. But when something irritates the skin, the scalp will replace old cells faster than normal. The natural scalp oils will stick the dead skin cells together to create visible flakes. Then when the dead skin cells fall off, they’re the flakes you’ll find floating through your hair or drifting onto your shoulders and leaving you with a dry and itchy scalp.

What causes dandruff?

There are many causes of dandruff, but the main one is an irritation of some kind. Common causes include:

  • Sensitivity to products, such as shampoo
  • Not shampooing your hair enough
  • Shampooing your hair too much
  • Sensitivity to hair dye
  • Seborrheic dermatitis

If your dandruff is caused by seborrheic dermatitis, the flakes will typically be yellow or red, not white.

Can dandruff cause hair loss?

The short answer is it can, but not in the way you might think. First off, the hair that grows in on a scalp covered in dandruff is more brittle, and it grows in already damaged. Because the hair is brittle, it will break easily, which could cause thinning. But the main cause of hair loss from dandruff is from scratching. If you’re suffering from dandruff, don’t itch. That’s what can cause hair loss.

One of the main symptoms of dandruff besides the telltale flakes is itchiness. An itchy scalp causes many people to scratch their scalp, and an excess of scratching leads to damaging the follicles. The injured follicles will then shed their hairs, which will result in dandruff hair loss. The hair loss won’t leave you completely bald though. Luckily, the hair loss from dandruff is reversible. The best way to reverse the hair loss is to get rid of dandruff and have a healthy scalp.

Everyone wants to get rid of dandruff to prevent growing fragile hair and end the itchy scalp. There are many different approaches to stopping dandruff, but here are some of the most effective ways to care for your scalp:

  • Use an anti-dandruff shampoo. If your dandruff is caused by a reaction to your shampoo, this will fix the problem. The shampoo can also help moisturize your scalp and reduce dryness, redness, and itchiness.
  • Use a shampoo with the right ingredients. Not only can anti-dandruff shampoos help, but these ingredients in any shampoo help: ketoconazole, zinc, selenium sulfide, and salicylic acid. If you have light hair, avoid selenium sulfide because it can cause discoloration.
  • For seborrheic dermatitis, use coal tar products. Surprisingly the liquid created by changing coal to coke is very effective in treating this skin condition. It will still take several weeks for noticeable results, but coal tar will help get rid of dandruff and reduce the dryness and itchy scalp.

Dandruff causes hair loss if it goes untreated, and it is an extremely common scalp condition. Luckily, dandruff is also simple to treat. A shampoo with the right ingredients goes a long way to get rid of dandruff and prevent hair loss. In combination with a good shampoo, the Nutrafol Core supplement products can maintain healthy hair growing conditions that will help you better care for your hair and scalp.

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These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.