Photo by Shamontiel L. Vaughn
Those white flakes are decorating your hair and scalp again, and you just don’t know what to do. You’ve tried using black hair conditioners and oils like jojoba oil and coconut oil. You’ve eliminated petrolatum and mineral oil from your hair care products since it just sits on the hair and dries your hair out more, adding more dandruff to the rest. You’ve even tried protecting your hair from Chicago’s brutal winter by protecting your hair while outside and getting hot oil treatments when necessary. So what’s next?
Preventing dandruff in African-American hair can be done, but first you must find out just what it is that caused the dandruff. According to MedicalNewsToday.com, there are many reasons why dandruff appears, including lack of hair brushing, sensitivity to yeast, dry skin, Seborrheic dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, heart attack and stroke recovery, Malassezia, HIV, mental stress and lack of vitamins in one’s diet.
For more serious conditions like eczema, psoriasis, a heart attack, stroke or seborrheic dermatitis, seek a medical professional for treatment. If dandruff is hereditary in your family, make sure to tell a medical professional. Excessive dandruff may not only be out of your control genetically, but dry, itchy scalps can be caused because of certain medications or illnesses you might not expect hair to be linked to.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, blacks accounted for 51 percent of the 42,655 newly diagnosed HIV patients in the United States. In a study completed by the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 10.6 percent of African-Americans with HIV had seborrheic dermatitis—irritated oily skin that effects different parts of the body with flaky white or yellow scales.
Seborrheic dermatitis may also be apparent after a heart attack. In the African-American community, according to the American Heart Association, heart and blood vessel diseases like heart attacks and stroke account for over 100,000 blacks every year. But dandruff and a survivor of a heart attack or stroke don't necessarily coincide. The American Academy of Dermatology reports that dandruff causes scaling but not redness on the skin. Seborrhea causes an oily scalp, but it doesn’t cause redness or scaling. However, seborrheic dermatitis has scaling and redness.
But before you panic, keep in mind that dandruff is common for many people and can be taken care of without medical treatment if it’s not one of the above serious issues. Drier scalps in cold weather climates, like Chicago winters mixed with ice, snow and below zero temperatures, may increase dandruff. Not eating essential foods in your diet may cause dandruff too so include vitamin B foods in your diet, such as watermelon, flour tortillas, soy milk, broccoli, cheese and pinto beans.
Using anti-dandruff shampoo may help fight the challenges of the Windy City’s winters, if the shampoo includes natural salycylic acid, or tea tree oil that moisturizes and is an anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial product. In addition to using the right shampoo, be weary of washing your hair too much. It takes longer for African-American hair to collect the natural oils in the hair that other cultures' hair types get on a daily basis. This is why black hair is washed less frequently, on average once every two weeks. If the hair is washed too often, the hair will break off and become drier.
For those who are prone to wrapping their hair at night with a wrap cap, try using a hair net that ties like a scarf instead of a cloth or cotton wrap cap. For those who sweat while they’re sleeping or when hair is too boxed in, sometimes the hair can dry out too quickly and dandruff will increase. But if the hair can breathe, especially for thin hair, dandruff may not show up as often. Continue oil treatments, whether at home or in the shop. There are numerous black hair care products, such as Parnevu, that sell T-Tree oil treatments that can be used for economical prices.
Comments
I'm loving your articles. I'm in my I won't relax my hair again! over 3months, but for me that's like 6 months for most. My hair is very thick and fluffy.... but due to chickenpox at age 40! all my hair fell out and now I have bad scape. Dry, flaky and itchy... I really think I have to go to the doctor...but now my hair is getting better because I stopped relaxing it! I'm about to go to NY any tips on hot styles I can do for night light? I'm not use to natural hair and I need help! Note: I don't like breads!
Enneagram Examiner, thanks for your support. I said this in another entry, but I don't know if you went back and checked my reply. I have permed hair so my style choices for natural hair will be limited. But I'm addicted to the "creamy crack" so unfortunately, you'll find me speaking more about permed hair or pressed hair than natural hair. However, women around me are wearing their hair natural more often so whenever I can get information from them, I certainly use it. Feel free to check out my entry on twisting hair. That is for natural hair.
But as far as what to wear for night life, my hair is also very thick and fluffy too so even with a perm, I still have pony hair. Many times when I'm just bored with the idea of curling it, I rock it just out and about. A guy approached me in Best Buy and talked about how he loved my "Angie Stone hairdo." I just combed it out and called it a day. See how that works out for you.
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