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Hey there, I hope this is the right place to put this though it's maybe only tangentially related to hair loss.
For a long time now I've had problems with a dry and itchy scalp. I tend to get dry skin which is pretty sensitive, though since I started taking a selenium & vitamin A C & E the skin on my body hasn't suffered from that, only really my face and my scalp is effected. I'm pretty sure skin problems run in my family as my mum had to have week long tar treatment as a teenager for eczema and my dad has had dandruff for basically as long as he can remember.
I've tried all sorts of shampoos and conditioners supposedly designed for dandruff or dry and irritated scalps, including nizoral, other ketoconazole shampoos but without fragrance or lauryl sulfate, fragrance and lauryl sulfate free shampoos without ketoconazole, shampoos with selenium in them, conditioners with biotin in them. None of them have worked so far, though some are better or worse than others.
When I try to use moisturisers, if they're fragranced they irritate the skin on my face quite badly, and even some unfragranced ones do the same, for seemingly no reason. I pay attention to the comedogenicity of the ingredients, but often I'll get blackheads and spots anyway. It's just as bad trying to find facial cleansers or any of the other things recommended for good skincare. Though at least the selenium A C E tablets help with minimising the dryness to a degree, even if my face isn't as resistant to it as the skin on my body.
I started taking finasteride about a week ago for androgenic hair loss and that reduced the itching by a good amount, which implies that some of the irritation in the skin itself was due to DHT by whatever mechanism, but my scalp is still dry as hell and after a shower the itching gets quite bad again just because I can feel all the moisture leaving the skin as my hair dries(though I don't let it air dry, since that would make it even worse. I use the unheated air setting on a hair dryer, which seems to be the least bad way).
So basically does anyone know or have suggestions for anything that could maybe stop my scalp stop being so dry and itchy, that isn't ketoconazole shampoo? Any good unfragranced conditioners which might help trap moisture in the scalp? Any particular approaches to washing hair or anything like that?
For a long time now I've had problems with a dry and itchy scalp. I tend to get dry skin which is pretty sensitive, though since I started taking a selenium & vitamin A C & E the skin on my body hasn't suffered from that, only really my face and my scalp is effected. I'm pretty sure skin problems run in my family as my mum had to have week long tar treatment as a teenager for eczema and my dad has had dandruff for basically as long as he can remember.
I've tried all sorts of shampoos and conditioners supposedly designed for dandruff or dry and irritated scalps, including nizoral, other ketoconazole shampoos but without fragrance or lauryl sulfate, fragrance and lauryl sulfate free shampoos without ketoconazole, shampoos with selenium in them, conditioners with biotin in them. None of them have worked so far, though some are better or worse than others.
When I try to use moisturisers, if they're fragranced they irritate the skin on my face quite badly, and even some unfragranced ones do the same, for seemingly no reason. I pay attention to the comedogenicity of the ingredients, but often I'll get blackheads and spots anyway. It's just as bad trying to find facial cleansers or any of the other things recommended for good skincare. Though at least the selenium A C E tablets help with minimising the dryness to a degree, even if my face isn't as resistant to it as the skin on my body.
I started taking finasteride about a week ago for androgenic hair loss and that reduced the itching by a good amount, which implies that some of the irritation in the skin itself was due to DHT by whatever mechanism, but my scalp is still dry as hell and after a shower the itching gets quite bad again just because I can feel all the moisture leaving the skin as my hair dries(though I don't let it air dry, since that would make it even worse. I use the unheated air setting on a hair dryer, which seems to be the least bad way).
So basically does anyone know or have suggestions for anything that could maybe stop my scalp stop being so dry and itchy, that isn't ketoconazole shampoo? Any good unfragranced conditioners which might help trap moisture in the scalp? Any particular approaches to washing hair or anything like that?