Those pesky flakes that fall on shoulders look annoying and cause embarrassment.
Imagine you are in a meeting, at a wedding, at a job interview, or an important occasion, and the flakes start falling on your shoulder. How disgusting it could be!
We understand this condition and are here to help you out. But there is a hurdle that can make the treatment a bit more challenging than it is.
We cannot blame only specific conditions for this because there are more than two conditions that can cause flaking. The top of them are dandruff and dry scalp. A person must know about each condition and then focus laser-like on treatment for desired results.
Dandruff
This is the most common scalp condition in adults. It also affects children, but the symptoms are more severe, and the condition gets a separate name for those symptoms in children: cradle cap.
Dandruff does not bother you physically, but it causes mental disturbance due to the flakes that can ruin the gorgeous look of your dress. It is a harmless condition.
Symptoms and causes
It leads to the following conditions:
- Flaky scalp
- Dry or greasy flakes
- Scaly patches on the skin
- Itching
- Redness
- Temporary hair loss
There is no exact cause of this condition. Researchers are trying to find the exact factor that causes dandruff. However, during research, they found that a fungus named Malassezia is found responsible in most of the dandruff cases.
Other factors like harsh environments, stress, hair care products, harsh chemicals, and irritants can contribute to flare-ups.
Can it spread?
Is dandruff contagious? The straightforward answer is “No”. You cannot get its symptoms by using items of the affected person or just coming in contact with the affected one.
However, it can spread to other parts of the face of a person.
Treatment
Reject all those shampoos that are available in the market for the treatment of dandruff. They provide little to no value or make the condition worse.
Dandruff does not need treatment, but if you are seriously concerned about those falling flakes, get a medically approved product.
You can visit a doctor for professional and prescribed treatment or choose a medicated dandruff shampoo for its treatment. Follow the usage guidelines written on the product label.
Dry Scalp
This could or could not be a symptom of dandruff. In the second scenario, you will treat it differently from the previous condition.
A dry scalp is simply dry skin on the scalp. This does not cause harm to the body or lead to other complications. Also, it is less severe than dandruff.
Symptoms and causes
This condition causes dryness on the scalp and the formation of small flakes. The flakes could be due to two reasons.
One is the buildup of dead cells on the skin that can be seen with the naked eye. In the second scenario, dust particles from the environment can build small flakes on the scalp.
Treatment
The treatment of dry scalp is not needed. Or you can say that a dry scalp is just a condition or symptom of a disease, and it is technically not a disease. So, there is no treatment required if there is not an underlying condition.
However, to manage the scalp’s health and reduce dryness, you can follow two different approaches.
One is moisturising enough and the second is maintaining a healthy environment for the scalp. To do so, wash your scalp enough to remove the build-up of flakes and dust particles.
Then, use a brush to brush out flakes. Clean the scalp and apply a moisturizing cream or lotion for some minutes or as directed. Simple!
Dandruff vs Dry Scalp: How to identify each?
If you have read the introduction to each scalp condition, you should be able to identify each. However, to be clear, let’s compare both.
Dandruff flakes could be oily or dry, and the flakes are usually big. On the other hand, dry scalp flakes will be dry and smaller.
Both conditions can cause itching, but a dry scalp does not lead to inflammation or redness. A dry scalp could be a sign of an underlying disease while dandruff itself is a disease.
Dandruff is often associated with excessive oil and moisture, while dry scalp happens due to lack of moisture. Dandruff itches more than a simple dry scalp. Also, it needs strong treatment and products compared to a dry scalp.
Now, it should be easy for you to differentiate between dandruff vs dry scalp.
Conclusions
Each skin condition shows similar symptoms, but there are some ways to make the difference between them crystal clear. I have described those ways in the upper paragraph, and you must be able to utilize them to identify each condition.
Dandruff is a scalp issue while a dry scalp could be a symptom of an underlying disease. Sometimes both conditions can be treated with the same method.
If the dandruff is oily, then you cannot use products that remove oil to treat a dry scalp. It will worsen the condition. I hope this guide helped you differentiate between both scalp conditions.
