You might try Nizoral shampoo if you can find it. Leave it in for five minutes.
this post was submitted on 27 Sep 2025
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First thing I apply in the shower, and the last thing I wash out.
Doesn't work well on my beard tho for some reason. You can still see the dandruff on some of my shirts.
This is what made the difference for me.
Often what people call "dandruff" is not actually dandruff. You might have dry scalp, which causes flakyness and the dandruff shampoos do nothing to help (I'd argue they even make the dryness worse!)
In my case it was dandruff and what made a huge difference is to wash twice in a row (lather, rinse, repeat). I leave the shampoo in my head for a bit on the second wash while I do my other shower business.
In the UK. I've found the best treatment has been coal based shampoo. I use T-Gel.
Lather hair with normal shampoo to remove hair gel/dirt/sweat and then rinse and repeat with a small amount of coal based.
Leave it to soak into my scalp for a few minutes before washing off.
3 in 1 shampoo is terrible for yoir scalp.
Tbh it doesnt sound like you have dandruff, more like psoriasis or plain dry scalp.
T-Gel is no longer available in Canada possibly elsewhere. Apparently there's a lawsuit.
Well fuck.
Although I've been using it on and off for 30 years so I'm probably fucked already
I feel a little relieved to stop using it, tbh. Every time I read the label, I couldn't help but think it must be bad. I've found that Head and Shoulders is enough to keep flakes in check (it wasn't before the T-Gel), so I'm just worrying about that now. π
I think im addicted to the smell tbh.
Your nose yearns for the mines.
If you like the weird scent of coal tarβI'm not judging, I do tooβyou might also like pine tar soap. Pine tar serves much the same function in soaps as coal tar, so that's a bonus as well.
It's clearly a scent derived from pines, not coal, but it appeals to my nose in much the same way. They're both in the same family of weirdness.
All solid advice. May also have an ingredient sensitivity to something like "sodium laureth sulphate", which can cause dry skin and flaking, or massively inflame existing psoriasis or dry skin.
Go to the doctor and get a diagnosis.
Then look for a solution.
There are only a few options for some problems.
Do you also have a dry skin?
Got rid of my dandruff problem when I realised that I was sensitive to SLS compounds. Try to use non-sulfate products for a while.
... and I no longer need to use skin lotions on a daily basis.
Aleppo soap finally resolved it for me after years of fighting the yo-yo effects of medicated shampoos. It's just an old hard Castile soap made using olive and laurel tree oils. Laurel tee oil is apparently pretty good for skin, and works fine to clean your hair.
I don't go in for woo, but it is kinda fun to be using a soap recipe that goes back a couple thousand years. Mileage may vary of course, but I've found it to work extremely well, and as a bonus has a pleasantly neutral smellβherbal as you might expect. 20% or so blends of laurel tree oil seem to do the trick.
That doesn't sound normal if you are looking for comparisons tbh
I used dandruff shampoos for most of my life. My dandruff is the best it's ever been since switching to a shampoo and conditioner that are slightly acid of neutral instead of basic like nearly every other shampoo.
Your skin is meant to be slightly acidic. Constantly assaulting its pH is not ideal. Yes it reasserts its normal pH pretty quickly afterwards but being gentler with your skin can help with some issues.
I'll keep it short: no, there is no "healthy" amount of dandruff. Definitely look beyond the 3-in-1 combos, those can really make things worse. And if that doesn't work, ask a doctor, since dandruff can have a number of different causes.
Look up the "no poo" movement. It's been over 5 years since I washed my hair and it's the best it's ever been.
I did this for a bit. My barber lady commented how nice and healthy my hair was for the first time ever. Then I got a job that was too dirty to keep it up. Had metal dust on my scalp no matter how I tried cleaning with just water.
Added conditioner to the routine and that worked for that issue. Still no poo.
Iβm so glad to see this in the comments. You can go no soap too.
I had this issue for years and finally tried just plain head and shoulders. Once the bottle ran out I went back to regular shampoo and conditioner and I only wash my hair 3 times a week now. The dandruff never came back.
I used sulphur soap to treat chronic dandruff and it worked on me. Its only about $2 for a bar.
One or two times a week at most otherwise it is very drying on hair.
It smells like sulphur but that washes out easily with regular shampoo after.