Dandruff is a skin condition that affects adults and, less commonly, children. Also known as seborrheic dermatitis, or cradle cap in infants, dandruff is not usually a serious concern for your child. Severe cases can be uncomfortable or itchy, however, as well as embarrassing if the dandruff's dried flakes of skin are visible on his clothing. When your child develops dandruff, you have several treatment options.
Causes
Dandruff is typically caused by an overabundance of an oil produced by the scalp called sebum, and a type of yeast known as malessizia. The malessizia feeds on the excess sebum, causing irritation on your scalp. The irritation causes more skin cells to grow on the scalp, which then die and fall off, resulting in the flakes you see in dandruff. Dandruff can also be just plain dry skin that dies and falls off. You can tell the difference from the feel of the skin flakes, which are greasier if caused by dandruff.
Home Remedies
Before turning to remedies such as medicated shampoos, look for dandruff treatments you can administer at home without chemicals or medicines. For example, you can use a scalp moisturizer to reduce severe dandruff associated with dry skin. Simply washing your child's hair more often with regular shampoo can help relieve dandruff by removing excess oil from the scalp. Even just a little sun exposure also can help reduce problems with dandruff. The key is just a little sun, as unprotected exposure to the sun can raise the risk of sunburn for your child and, later in life, the risk of skin cancer.
Shampoo
When home remedies are not enough, several over-the-counter dandruff shampoos are available to help remedy dandruff problems. Dandruff shampoos use active ingredients such as zinc pyrithione, salicylic acid or selenium sulfide to help fight the causes of dandruff. Zinc pyrithione helps as an anti-fungal agent to kill off the malessizia infection. Salicylic acid eliminate excess skin cells, or skin scale, that has built up from irritation. Selenium sulfide attacks the malessizia fungus and slows down how fast your skin cells shed. When using a shampoo, massage it into your child's scalp to help break free loose skin cells. Leave the shampoo in your child's hair for at least five minutes before rinsing it out.
Tinea Capitis
In some cases, what appears to be childhood dandruff may actually be an infection of tinea capitis, more commonly referred to as ringworm. This common fungus does not respond to over-the-counter shampoos, and is highly contagious, which is why it is often seen in school-age children. This fungus produces flaking similar to that of dandruff, but can have side effects such as bald spots and broken hairs. Your doctor can help you tell the difference between dandruff and ringworm, as well as provide an oral medication to help fight the infection.
