Dandruff: Causes and Risk Factors
For my first post I wanted to focus on something I thought would be fairly simple…dandruff; Partly because it seemed pretty straight forward and because I suffer from it. Those darn nasty flakes of dead skin cells that seem to show up everywhere you don’t want them. It always seems to be worse in the winter, but it can show up in the summer too. For Procter & Gamble the answer is simple, “Use Head and Shoulders”, they say. But where does dandruff come from? Is there a way to treat the cause rather than treat the symptoms? What exactly is the cause?
From my research into this subject I have found that there are a number of causes of dandruff. Some you’ve heard of and some that are not so obvious.
Dry Skin
Dandruff can have several causes, including:
- Dry skin. Simple dry skin — the kind you get during winter when the air is cold and rooms are overheated — is the most common cause of itchy, flaking skin. Flakes from dry skin are generally smaller and less oily than those from other causes of dandruff.
- Irritated, oily skin (seborrheic dermatitis). This condition, a frequent cause of dandruff, is marked by red, greasy skin covered with flaky white or yellow scales. Seborrheic dermatitis affects not only your scalp but also other areas rich in oil glands, such as your
Seborrheic Dermatitis
eyebrows, the sides of your nose and the backs of your ears, your breastbone, your groin area, and sometimes your armpits.
- Not shampooing often enough. If you don’t regularly wash your hair, oils and skin cells from your scalp can build up, causing dandruff.
- Psoriasis. This skin disorder causes an accumulation of dead skin cells that form thick silvery scales. Psoriasis commonly occurs on your knees, elbows and trunk, but it can also affect your scalp.
- Eczema. If you have eczema on your scalp, it’s possible you could develop dandruff.
Psoriasis
- Sensitivity to hair care products (contact dermatitis). Sometimes sensitivities to certain hair care products or hair dyes can cause a red, itchy, scaling scalp. Shampooing too often or using too many styling products also may irritate your scalp, causing dandruff.
- A yeast-like fungus (malassezia). Malassezia lives on the scalps of most healthy adults without causing problems. But sometimes it grows out of control, feeding on the oils secreted by your hair follicles. This can irritate the skin on your scalp and cause more skin cells to grow.
Eczema
The extra skin cells die and fall off,clumping together with oil from your hair and scalp, making them appear white, flaky and visible in your hair or on your clothes. Exactly what causes an overgrowth of malassezia isn’t known, although having too much oil on your scalp; changes in your hormones; stress; illness; neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease; a suppressed immune system; not shampooing often enough; and extra sensitivity to the malassezia fungus may contribute to the development of dandruff.
Almost anyone can have dandruff, but who is more likely to get dandruff?
Malassezia
Certain factors can make you more susceptible:
- Age. Dandruff usually begins in young adulthood and continues through middle age. That doesn’t mean older adults don’t get dandruff, however. For some people, the problem can be lifelong.
- Being male. Because more men have dandruff, some researchers think male hormones may play a role in dandruff. Men also have larger oil-producing glands on their scalps, which can contribute to dandruff.
- Oily hair and scalp. Malassezia feeds on oils in your scalp. For that reason, having excessively oily skin and hair makes you more prone to dandruff.
- Poor diet. If your diet lacks foods high in zinc, B vitamins or certain types of fats, you may be more likely to have dandruff.
- Certain illnesses. For reasons that aren’t clear, adults with neurological diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, are more likely to develop seborrheic dermatitis and dandruff. So are people recovering from stressful conditions, particularly heart attack and stroke, and those with compromised immune systems.
In the following posts we will examine each of the above causes in depth.