MUMBAI: Winter is Coming! If not so dramatically soon, soon enough. And as winter arrives, we are all too familiar with the woes it brings along- dry skin, wooly clothes, and the cherry on the cake: Dandruff!
Even though dandruff is an around the year problem, many people report it to aggravate the unwarranted snowfall on their shoulders during winters. A particular reason behind this could be that due to lack of humidity and sweating, people tend to shampoo their hair less, which unwittingly results in more build up of flakes and dust on the scalp.
Our skin always replaces its cells with new cells and as cells are pushed out, they die out and this causes the skin to flake. Dandruff appears like these white flakes and even though it isn’t contagious, it creates embarrassing situations for one.
These skin flakes fall off on our eyebrows, forehead and mainly shoulders and appear like white dust. Dandruff can be caused due to excess oil on skin, a fungus called Malassezia furfur and other factors that can be genetic or environmental.
Lack of hygiene, stress, irregularity in brushing hair can also cause more dandruff. The symptoms are mainly, an itchy and dry scalp, flakes of dandruff, among others.
Men face this woe a lot as it is often seen as a blow to one’s pride to shed dandruff. However, the times that we live in gives us many natural and man-made remedies to fight it for prolonged periods of time. Let’s walk through them:
1. Oiling your hair regularly is one such natural remedy that can help relieve you of the problem. Coconut oil mixed with lemon can help reduce dandruff. Mix equal portions of coconut oil and lemon juice, somewhere close to 2 tablespoons and heat it before massaging your scalp. Rinse your hair with a shampoo after letting it rest for 20 minutes
2. Another Home remedy is applying ‘Curd’ to your hair and letting it rest on your scalp, before washing your hair with a shampoo within an hour. A variation of this would be a DIY mask of lemon juice and curd. Mix around 2 tablespoons of curd and a tablespoon of lemon and let it rest on your scalp for 30 minutes before you rinse it off with a mild shampoo.
3. Neem leaves. Neem has Ayurvedic properties and has been used since ancient times to cure hair and skin problems. It is also soothing and cooling for the skin of the scalp. One of the ways to use Neem leaves, would be to add some Neem leaves to hot water and let it rest over night and then apply this water the next day to your hair. This treatment can reduce itchiness and dryness of skin.
4. Olive oil is another alternative treatment and all you have to do is massage your scalp gently with olive oil and leave it overnight. Let your head rest on a towel as you sleep and as you take a shower, shampoo and condition your hair.
5. A desi nuskha which we are sure you have heard for more times than you care to admit, is Mehendi! Henna has antifungal and anti-bacterial properties and a regular Henna treatment can help you with dandruff for a prolonged period of time.
