Dandruff in your hair usually occurs if your scalp is on the oily side, because such type of scalp is the victim of the overgrowth of malassezia. Malassezia is a yeast-like fungus, which develops naturally, and lives around your hair roots by feeding on the oil, or sebum, secreted by the hair follicles. Unfortunately, if your scalp has the tendency to secrete too much of this sebum, and at the same time, have overgrown malassezia, you might end up being a prime victim of dandruff.
In such cases, the fungus grown on your scalp irritates the skin, while your immune system sends millions of white blood cells to counter the irritated patches that grow as a result of the attack. Eventually, this process builds up skin cells around the patches, leading to dandruff on your scalp. When these extra skin cells (produced by the white blood cells) die, they get clumped with the sebum, eventually giving you those white flakes that you call ‘dandruff’.
So, here is the list of a few of those important ingredients that you need to look for while licking your anti-dandruff shampoo from the store.
This is an active ingredient that can be found in many shampoos for dandruff, and is effective in treating various conditions of the scalp, apart from dandruff. Coal tar has a natural property to fight the common itching sensation.
Interesting, if you itch your scalp less, you prevent the infection from spreading across your scalp quickly, and as a result, the production of dandruff skin cells automatically slows down.
If you suffer from dry scalp conditions, you should look for sulfur and salicylic acid in the ingredients list of your anti-dandruff shampoo. The combination of these two chemicals is very common while treating such conditions.
These two chemical ingredients effectively work together to control the common issue of itching and scaling (from which many people suffer), which again, is a result of dry-skin dandruff. While salicylic acid is a mild antiseptic, and is essential in breaking down the main culprit causing dandruff, i.e., the dead skin cells spreading all over your scalp, the sulfur acts against the fungus, controlling the malassezia.
Zinc Pyrithione is yet another active ingredient commonly found in over-the-counter anti-dandruff shampoos. This chemical compound is an antifungal agent that helps in reducing Malassezia on your dandruff-affected scalp, and thus, aids in breaking down the production of dead skin.
Compared to many other anti-dandruff ingredients, this compound is rather mild and gentle, and there are no side effects in using it regularly. We advise you to use shampoos containing zinc pyrithione at least twice (or even thrice) a week for best results. This means, you can use these products on your scalp and hair like any other regular shampoos, followed by a mild conditioner soon after using it.
Many of the available brands of anti-dandruff shampoos use this compound as one of the active ingredients. It is used for the treatment of such dandruff conditions that are mostly characterized by overgrown malassezia. Products made from this chemical should not be used more than once, or maximum twice, a week.
However, you need to remember that, the over-the-counter selenium sulfide shampoos that you readily get from the stores, can contain a maximum of 1% of selenium sulfides. But if you need products that contain 2.5% of this compound, you need to have a prescription from a certified physician.
Ketoconazole, basically, is a fungicide. This is yet another common ingredient in many of the anti-dandruff shampoos that are particularly meant for killing scalp fungus. By doing so, this chemical ingredient also helps in removing the malassezia, which is directly responsible for the production of dandruff.
FYI, most of the anti-dandruff shampoos that contain ketoconazole as one of its ingredients, contain only 2% of this compound. Shampoos containing ketoconazole needs to be smoothly massaged all over your scalp before leaving it for around 5-7 minutes. When done, you need to gently wipe the rinse properly. Depending on the condition, you can use this shampoo twice a week for controlling dandruff.
As we discussed in our other articles, there are various kinds of anti-dandruff shampoos available in the market that can contain either one dandruff-fighting ingredient, or else, a combination of various other ingredients that can effectively treat dandruff. So, while using any of the above-mentioned anti-dandruff products, please keep in mind the following directions to use them:
Finally, we would like to say that, most of us probably know when we need to use a dandruff-fighting shampoo; however, it can be much more complicated to know how to choose one, especially when we visit the store and discover that there are so many different options available for you.
In a nutshell, keep the above ingredients in mind while visiting the store, since most of the anti-dandruff shampoos contain any of the five ingredients mentioned above. So, by remembering these ingredients, and knowing what they do, or how they work, you will easily be able to make your decision. Nevertheless, just like no two anti-dandruff shampoos are exactly the same; similarly, no two victims of dandruff are exactly alike, either. Hence, you might need to test them, or experiment with more than one of those products in order to be sure, which one is the best option for your specific needs. After all, you should understand that there is more to treating this disgusting dandruff than just a hair shampoo.
