Having a dry scalp is super uncomfortable as you end up itching your hair every now and then which can be embarrassing sometimes. Especially in public and on special occasions, you try to keep your hand off your hair but end up digging your finger and scratching terribly. At this point, you end up ruining your beautiful hair and reputation.
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What Is Dry Scalp?
A dry scalp is nothing more than the skin of the scalp peeling due to irritation. This results from the scalp’s failure to generate sufficient amounts of sebum and other natural oils to maintain the skin’s moisture. The scalp gets overly dry without enough moisture to keep it healthy, which causes flaking and shedding. This can be brought on by a variety of circumstances, including psychological, external, and environmental ones.
Dandruff vs. Dry Scalp
The opposite of dandruff, which is brought on by excessive oil production or an overabundance of innocuous yeast, is a dry scalp, which is brought on by a lack of moisture. Additionally, the flakes have various appearances. The flakes on a dry scalp are tiny white specks, whereas dandruff produces big, yellow-tinted flakes. The major symptoms of dandruff and dry scalp are similar, therefore people frequently use them interchangeably. They have different illnesses, nevertheless, and different treatments.
What Causes Dry Scalp?
Environment
For people with dry scalps, the humid, muggy summer and the chilly, brittle winter months present the greatest challenges. We are more susceptible to UV-ray exposure when the temperature is quite high. Our scalp can get burnt just like any other part of our body, which results in dryness and flaking and peeling. Even if the sun doesn’t really burn your skin, prolonged exposure to it might dry out your scalp. This is due to the sun’s effect on the evaporation of water from the epidermis, our skin’s outermost layer. Dry scalps can develop or get worse in the winter due to low humidity, chilly air, and freezing weather conditions.
Excessive Washing
Naturally, this can harm colour treatments, but it can also result in dry scalp problems. Our bodies produce sebum, commonly known as oil, which lubricates the scalp skin and hair and helps the top layer of our skin keep moisture. We rob our scalp of the oil that is ultimately intended to keep our scalp from drying out too much when we shampoo and scrape with hot water every day. Ageing, which naturally causes oil loss, combined with this could swiftly result in itchy scalps.
Lack of Nutrition
Diet is crucial to good health, and what we eat also has an impact on how we look. Like the rest of our skin, the scalp is a barrier made of lipids like cholesterol, ceramides, free fatty acids, and phospholipids. Dehydration can happen when there is not enough fat in the skin or sebaceous gland production to keep you hydrated.
Hair Care Items
Any elements that trigger sensitivity might lead to flare-ups like dry scalp because hair care products absorb through our strands and into our scalp. Keep chemical hair colours and treatments away from your scalp if you use them. They can result in what is known as irritating contact dermatitis on the scalp’s skin, which can cause flaking, redness, and itching.
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