9 Symptoms Revealed: What Your Scalp is Trying to Tell You
Your scalp is more than just the base for your hair. It’s an essential part of your overall health and well-being. Often overlooked, the condition of your scalp can reveal valuable insight into your body’s internal balance and the effectiveness of your hair care routine. Paying attention to the messages your scalp is sending through various symptoms is essential for maintaining scalp health and promoting healthy hair.
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Your scalp is a foundation for your hair and its proper growth. A well-nourished and balanced scalp provides the ideal environment for hair follicles to thrive. Neglecting your scalp can cause hair loss, thinning, slow hair growth, and other conditions. Hormonal imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, autoimmune disorders, and stress can all impact scalp health. Think of your scalp as a messenger, communicating signals to you about your well-being.
Let’s explore nine key symptoms to pay attention to that may help you understand what your scalp is trying to tell you, and how you can remedy it.
DUll hair
What it looks like: Dull hair lacks the natural shine associated with healthy hair.
Why it’s happening: If your hair is feeling lifeless, it could be caused by a variety of factors like product buildup, excessive heat while styling, and even nutrient deficiencies. You’re most likely lacking moisture and need to nourish your hair from within.
How you can improve it: Visit your hairstylist and ask about gentle clarifying shampoos and conditioners to nourish your scalp and condition your hair without weighing it down. Consider getting a trim to remove dead ends and use hydrating hair masks for moisturizing.
Limp Hair
What it looks like: Limp hair might appear flat as if it’s lacking volume and struggling to keep its natural bounce or body.
Why it’s happening: If your hair looks limp, it could be due to hormonal imbalances, excessive oiliness, product buildup, or even overactive sebaceous glands. Sebaceous glands are found in the skin and are responsible for producing an oily substance (sebum) that lubricates and protects the scalp and hair.
How you can improve it: Try using a scalp scrub to massage and stimulate the roots. It helps remove waste and toxins from the scalp and around the hair follicle. Your hair will jump to life after! Products like these are best when used once a week.
Itchy Scalp
What it looks like: Persistent, itchy scalps can be characterized by flakes, redness, and skin irritation or inflammation.
Why it’s happening: An itchy scalp can occur due to dandruff, sensitivity to hair products, scalp infections, or potentially unbalanced microbiomes. Microbiomes are microorganisms that live on your scalp that act as a protective barrier for the skin. They also help maintain your scalp’s pH balance and sebum production.
How you can improve it: It's important to moisturize your scalp regularly. Try to find a product that has natural active ingredients like botanical extracts as opposed to harsh chemicals like sulfates, silicones, and parabens. For dry scalp and hair, the best line of products to use are ones that nourish and hydrate the hair and scalp. Avoid shampoos with perfumes and added scents.
Flaky Scalp
What it looks like: This type of scalp generally looks like small, light-colored flakes from the root of the hair that could be visible on the scalp, hair, and clothing.
Why it’s happening: Flakes are generally associated with dandruff, dryness, or hair product sensitivity. It can be an indicator that your scalp’s struggling with its natural renewal process, often caused by an overgrowth of yeast-like fungi or dry skin.
How you can improve it: Look for specialized anti-dandruff shampoo or products that contain zinc pyrithione. Consider natural moisturizers like aloe vera or coconut oil and be sure to regularly cleanse your scalp. Proper hydration and a proper diet can also help resolve a flaky scalp.
SCaly Scalp
What it looks like: A scaly scalp will have larger, thicker, and possibly inflamed scales or patches ranging from yellowish to reddish in color. They could also appear crusty or raised.
Why it’s happening: These symptoms could likely be a sign of an autoimmune condition like psoriasis. Psoriasis is a chronic autoimmune condition that causes new skin cells to develop too quickly, accumulating on the skin. It can be triggered by trauma to the skin, stress, genetics, or bacterial infections.
How you can improve it: Unfortunately, there is no cure for psoriasis, and treatment varies from one person to another. You can try scalp treatments containing Coal tar and salicylic acid. You can try changing your diet. Research shows that sometimes the elimination of gluten, yeast, wheat, and dairy products could improve your symptoms. Visit your dermatologist for advanced treatments on the market to suppress and manage this condition.
Oily Scalp
What it looks like: Oily scalp most often looks greasy and shiny and gives the hair a visibly slick texture. It can also cause the hair to appear flat and lacking volume.
Why it’s happening: An oily scalp could be caused by hormonal imbalances, genetics, excessive sebum production from the Sebaceous glands, improper hair care routines, or other environmental factors. It is also an indicator of seborrheic dermatitis, a chronic inflammatory skin disease. That can be kept at bay by the use of medicated shampoo.
How you can improve it: Washing your hair consistently can reduce the oiliness created by an overactive sebaceous gland.
Smelly Scalp
What it looks like: Scalp odor can manifest itself in many ways from oily scalp to scales, flakes, and dandruff buildup. Many people describe it as a musty, yeasty, or sour smell.
Why it’s happening: Scalp odor is commonly attributed to bacterial or fungal overgrowth on the scalp. It could be indicating that there’s an imbalance of microbiomes in the scalp or other underlying conditions. A smelly scalp can also be due to excessive sweating or trapped odors from hair products.
How you can improve it: Prioritize scalp hygiene, washing your hair regularly with an antimicrobial shampoo.
Dandruff
What it looks like: Pityriasis Capitis (dandruff) looks like small flakes on the scalp and hair that appear to be dry.
Why it’s happening: Your scalp naturally sheds dead skin daily without you noticing. Metabolic changes can increase scalp skin and accelerate scalp shedding. Dandruff can be caused by poor diet, stress, and air pollutants. Wearing hats creates the perfect environment for dandruff to grow and become more problematic. So if you are a constant hat wearer make sure you wash the hat once a week.
How you can improve it: Try an anti-itching or anti-flacking shampoo that contains coal tar /or zinc, using as directed on the bottle. Avoid harsh hair products and maintain good scalp hygiene by shampooing regularly.
Sticky Dandruff
What it looks like: Sticky dandruff looks like scalp residue, and can be anywhere from yellowish to grayish. It often has a greasy, clumpy texture.
Why it’s happening: If you notice the scales lead to matted hair and scalp, it could indicate that you have seborrheic dermatitis. This is a scalp condition associated with these symptoms and is believed to result from an inflammatory reaction to the scalp. Sticky dandruff could be also caused by excessive sebum production, which can be influenced by factors like hormonal changes, stress, or other skin conditions. This is a sign that your scalp is not effectively regulating oil production or your hair care products are not working for you.
How you can improve it: Trichologists recommend 3% Coal Tar and 3% Salicylic Acid to remove buildup and excess oil. UVB Light can also be of help to reduce the symptoms. Avoid greasy styling products that could exacerbate the stickiness. You might want to consider antifungal medications to reduce the inflammation and get rid of the fungus.
Consider Visiting a Certified Trichologist
If you have a problem with your scalp, consider booking an appointment with a trichologist in your area. A trichologist is a specialist who is trained to diagnose and treat hair and scalp conditions such as hair loss, dandruff, scalp infections, and scalp disorders. They can give you a scalp and hair analysis to detect why you are having scalp problems and create the best treatment plan for you. A trichologist will be able to recommend a range of scalp exfoliants to use on different scalp problems along with educating you about proper hair and scalp practices.
As a board-certified trichologist based in New York City, I work very closely with world-class physicians and scientists who are focused on the advancement of hair science and developing solutions for scalp issues and hair loss. Reach out to me here to connect more about how I may be able to help you.
All Content © 2023 Penny James Trichology Center