Thursday, February 10, 2011

T-Gel

A/N:  This is a discussion about my itchy head, so if you are squeamish, you might not want to read this.

It's a pretty well known fact amongst my family and friends that I'm a long time sufferer of dandruff.  The first time it hit hard was back in high school when it was practically snowing from my head.  Pleasant, I know.  I had my mom check my head to make sure that it just wasn't lice that was causing the itchiness and flaking, but it wasn't.  I think lice would have been easier to get rid of, to be honest.  Then I had her call my doctor and ask him about it because it was out of control and embarrassing.  I had tried numerous shampoos and home remedies to stop the itch and flaking.  What ended up working for me back then was Scalpicin and Neutrogena's T-Gel.  After I started using these my head became a lot less itchy and no more flakes.  I would use the Scalpicin for the itching and the T-Gel to cure the problem.  I chalked my dandruff up to puberty and hormones.

When  I went away to Riverside and NY I had mild itching and some flaking, but not nearly as badly as I had it in high school.  A stylist in NY recommended using tea tree oil shampoo for the dryness of my scalp, which at the time had just started up again when the weather changed.  That helped, but was expensive.  After a few weeks my dry scalp went away once my skin adjusted to the severe cold and dry air.  Then my theory changed and was that my dandruff was weather conditional.

Now that I've been back home for a year and a half I have had on and off itchy, flaky scalp.  Sooo not puberty!  Not weather!  Since last year I've been tracking the condition of my scalp and it comes down to allergies.  Whenever allergy season rolls around, which is fall, spring, and summer for me, I get dandruff.  During the winter I have a little reprieve, but it's not that much better.  For the last couple of weeks I've only been washing my hair twice a week and having to put it up in a pony tail because it feels so gross, but my head would literally start itching an hour after I washed it until the next day.  Maybe during the winter my head gets itchy because it's dry.

As a result, I have resorted back to using stinky smelling T-Gel and it has done wonders.  I will have to get over the foul scent to keep my sanity.  I can wash my hair every other day like I used to with little itch and mild flaking.  I was around cats this weekend so I think my head is slightly more flaky than usual after using T-Gel, but that will go away.  T-Gel is saving me from scratching my scalp off and throwing away all my black clothing.

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