1. What is dandruff?

• Dandruff is a condition where there is excessive shedding of dead scalp skin
• Normal scalp skin renews itself about every 28 days
• In dandruff there is rapid turnover and renewal of the scalp skin that takes place about every 11 days
• Overgrowth of yeast-like fungus that lives on the scalp may cause or aggravate formation of dandruff
• Other factors that might contribute to development of dandruff are:
  • Infrequent shampooing of the hair or inadequate rinsing of the scalp
  • Excessive use of hair sprays and gels
  • Improper use of hair coloring product
  • Increased oil production
  • Hormonal fluctuation
  • Stress
  • Suppressed immune system

2. What are the symptoms?

• Itchy, scaling scalp
• Presence of white, oily looking flakes of dead skin on the hair and shoulders
• Presence of white, oily looking flakes on your clothing

3. How can one treat dandruff?

Use an anti-dandruff shampoo. Examples of anti-dandruff shampoo and their functions are:

• Zinc pyrithione shampoo helps reduce fungus
• Tar – based shampoo helps to slow cell turnover
• Salicylic shampoo helps to eliminate scale
• Selenium sulphide shampoo reduces cell turnover and controls growth of fungus
• Ketoconazole shampoo is a broad-spectrum antifungal agent

4. How can one prevent dandruff from occurring or recurring?

• Shampoo your hair regularly especially if you have an oily scalp
• Avoid frequent use of hairstyling products including :
  • Hairsprays, styling gels and mousses which will make your scalp more oily

5. What are the other causes of excessive skin scaling?