omgwtf?

[fox]

Recall, if you will, that about three, three and a half weeks ago I was blindsided by a mysterious depressive episode. I said, among other things, that what I was dealing with was certainly nothing a lot of people don't deal with every day, quite a bit less than what people deal with every day, even, but because I don't deal with it every day I was much less equipped to deal with my slight funk than many people are to deal with their un-slight caverns of despair.

Such is now the case with my hair. Sort of. Stick with me, it'll make sense in a minute.

I am not, repeat am not, a person with dry hair. Nosiree. Mine is perhaps not the oiliest hair I've ever met, but it's sure up there, and nothing I have ever tried has ever changed that. I have to wash it every day. Twenty-four hours after I wash it, it has a sort of dull sheen that I can get away with if I tie it back and don't let it move much; but thirty hours after I wash it, the comb leaves tracks in it, so skipping any more than a single day's hair-washing is right out unless I intend not to leave the house for any reason.

This is washing with gentle daily-use stuff, by the way -- not with nasty harsh oil-stripping "for oily hair" stuff, which I understand to be counter-productive. Actually, because my hair is also quite fine, prone to breaking, and very, very smooth, it's strengthening or extra-volume type stuff. I'll take it any way I can get it.

But in the past week or so (at least I hope it's just the past week, and not that it's always been like this and I've never noticed and nobody has ever told me), I'm flaking like a crazy person. I'm a Head & Shoulders commercial over here. Every time I turn my head, I see specks on my shoulder. I can only hope there's not dandruff standing out starkly against my (right?) dark hair. God. Where did this dry (and itchy) scalp come from? (I also don't have dry skin, by the way. I mean, I do, but on my elbows and my legs, right? Not on my face and my head. ARGH.)

And what can be done? Do I need some kind of moisturizing shampoo or conditioner? (I sometimes use such things in the winter, when the air is so dry it leaches the moisture out of everything; it has never occurred to me to do so in summer.) This runs so counter to all my experiences and expectations that I'm kind of flummoxed.

Comments

[panjianlien.livejournal.com]

Allergies? Or have you changed/added any meds to your life?

I know that for me, my skin overall has gotten drier and more sensitive as I have gotten older. But even so, I usually don't have turn-on-a-dime changes like the one you're describing.

Sometimes people can and do get scalp dermatitis. If you've recently changed shampoos/conditioners/styling products or the detergent/fabric softener you use, that might be an issue.

I would probably try doing the laundry in a mild soap like no-dye/no-fragrance Purex for a while. Possibly switching to a no-dye no-fragrance shampoo/conditioner for a bit might make sense too. Might also try massaging some tea tree oil into my scalp before bed as well -- tea tree is a good antifungal/antimicrobial, and just on the off chance that you've developed a mild infection it can't really do you any harm. Then shampoo in the morning.

[jgesteve.livejournal.com]

I actually noticed a while back that even though I've never had dandruff per se that getting some head & shoulders and just using it once a week keeps my scalp happy in general, because for me the variations in temperature this time of year do wacky crap to my skin/scalp's balance (It's cold and dry, no wait it's warm and moist, no wait it's warm and dry, now it's cold and moist, ARRRGH!) You might just try that. Mix in a day where you swap out your normal stuff for the head & shoulders variety that matches your normal stuff and see if that helps.

Also, for what it's worth I've never noticed anything (and didn't see anything when I saw you at Pentagon City the other day).

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing it's to do with allergies, because it coincides rather neatly with the warm weather and crazy-insane pollen count, and nothing else has changed in terms of health, products, diet, etc. (Except that I encased my bedding in allergy-compliant covers. So maybe this is what happens when there are no fewer dust mites munching on one's dead skin?)

[panjianlien.livejournal.com]

I suspect it's just your immune system going temporarily allergy-bonkers, then.

Generally speaking, based on years of living w/ someone who tends to be dandruffy, a good thorough scrubby massaging-in of some tea tree and/or rosemary oil (either straight or diluted with a carrier oil) does help calm the itchies and keep the flaking down.

[cereta.livejournal.com]

This will probably make you headdesk, but if this is sudden and out of nowhere, it might be worth seeing your doctor about it if it persists more than a couple of weeks. If nothing else, she/he might have recs for shampoo.

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

It does make me headdesk just a bit, but fortunately I have an appointment to see her this coming Tuesday for an unrelated (and probably also trivial [g]) reason. I'm going to buy some happier moisturizey type shampoo this evening (those always smell nicer anyway -- hey, I get to use something with coconut in it, score!), so I'll have four days of it in which to decide whether I need to ask her about psoriasis or whatever else might be going on up here. Feh.

[cereta.livejournal.com]

Well, it could be something significantly less dire than that, too.

Oh! MomTip: if you've really got serious flackage, some night, rub some oil on your head (cooking oil will do, but baby oil smells nicer), let it sit a few minutes, then run a fine-tooth comb along your roots. Clears out the flakes like whoa. At least, it works on cradle cap ;).

[elance.livejournal.com]

Okay, clearly I'm just Not Right, because last I checked, I had hair just about as oily as yours, but also flakes! I have had this problem almost ever since I left the US, so it'll be most likely the weather for me.

Usually what helps with flakes for me is cutting way back on my shampoo and making sure to use conditioner.

[the-star-fish.livejournal.com]

I always find that pH balanced stuff is easier on my scalp than other stuff, so I try to steer that way when I can. Mine's been really bad lately too -- I can't wear dark shirts at all, and it seems like half my wardrobe is black. Argh.