What To Do With A Dry Scalp Problem

A dry scalp is a bummer. When you think you look absolutely spiffy in that black ensemble, don’t head out the door just yet. Be sure to glance down and check for those little white flakes that can turn to your look from hot to gross in an instant.
A dry scalp often comes with dandruff, psoriasis, and other scalp-y problems; though not all the time. A dry scalp feels tight and may harbour white flakes on the hairline, top of head, and around the base of the hairline near the neck. Although the symptom of skin flakes doesn’t always mean dandruff, it very much mimics the condition. The good news is that a simple moisturizing strategy can set a dry scalp condition to rights once more.

The Difference Between Dry Scalp Flakes and Dandruff

A dry scalp can exhibit itchy, flaky skin especially when it is exposed to irritants like residue buildup from styling products or to medications like minoxidil. These flakes are not necessarily dandruff. Flakes from residue buildup tend to be translucent and cling to hair strands. Those born out of a minoxidil reaction form off-coloured scaly sheets which are confined only to areas where the medication was applied.
Dandruff flakes on the other hand are opaque white and have a heavier texture. These tend to cling to both scalp and hair strands.
Simple flaking from a dry scalp is a simpler condition to treat than that of dandruff. Before bedtime, massage some moisturizing lotion into the dry areas of the scalp. During your morning shampoo, rinse out the lotion well and apply conditioner. If the flaking is not a dandruff issue, this remedy will solve it.
Washing your hair often will reduce hair product buildup and keep your scalp flake-free. It would be best not to minimize using hairsprays, gels, waxes, and other styling products that cause unsightly residue.
Flaking from a minoxidil reaction can be reduced if hair and scalp are washed daily to rinse away every night’s application of the medication.

About Dandruff

Dandruff can be a condition not just of a dry scalp but an oily scalp as well. Dandruff is symptomised by excessive flaking of dead skin cells caused by an overgrowth of a fungus called malassezia. Scientists are not very clear, but it seems that the overgrowth may be caused by:

• A diet high in sodium or sugar. A diet also dominated by spicy food may trigger the problem.
• Lack of nutrients such as Vitamins B or D
• Hormonal changes
• Heredity
• Stress
• Neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease
• Infrequent shampooing or cleansing of the hair
• Recovery from a chronic cardiovascular illness
• Excessive consumption of alcohol
• Changes in the weather

Dandruff Treatments

Anti-dandruff shampoos sold over-the-counter and in groceries may work to control some cases of dandruff. Good choices should contain ingredients such as ketoconazole, pyrithione zinc, coal tar, salicylic acid, or selenium sulfide. Use anti-dandruff shampoos a few times a week, alternating with your regular shampoo.
For those who want a more natural, organic approach to dandruff control, here are a few tips:

Tea Tree Oil

A few drops of tea tree oil in your shampoo could be an effective way to control dandruff. This oil has antifungal properties so small amounts could also be applied directly to those scaly patches on the scalp. As it is a strong substance, be on the lookout for allergic reactions and use only for short periods.

Aloe

The thick translucent fluid of an aloe vera leaf may reduce itchiness and flaking skin as it does with people afflicted with seborrheic dermatitis, a skin problem that can also cause dandruff. You can rub fresh aloe directly on your scalp.

Baking Soda

Baking soda is so versatile that it can clean your kitchen, whiten teeth, and do a myriad other things including dandruff control. Wet hair and rub some baking soda vigorously onto your scalp. Then rinse it out directly, skipping the shampooing part. Do this several times in the week. Baking soda seems to work on the fungi causing your dandruff misery. Expect your hair to get a bit dry but after some weeks, your scalp will start making its own oils, balancing out your hair’s texture with an added plus of a flake-free scalp.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar balances the pH of your scalp, creating a less friendly environment for the fungi to grow. Spray your scalp with a mixture of equal parts of apple cider vinegar and water, wrap it up with a towel between 15 minutes to 1 hour, and then rinse away. Make this a twice a week ritual until the dandruff goes away.

Virgin Coconut Oil

Virgin coconut oil has both antifungal and moisturizing properties which makes this a great anti-dandruff alternative. Before a shower, massage your scalp with 3-5 tablespoons of it. Leave on your scalp for about an hour or more. Then, shampoo away. You won’t need to use a conditioner as the oil already does the conditioning as well as fight the fungi on your head. Try this treatment for a week or so.
When all else fails, consider visiting a trichologist, a hair and scalp expert. Trichologists can diagnose the cause of the dandruff and recommend the appropriate treatment. Think of them like hair and scalp doctors who can help you bid goodbye to your perennial embarrassing dandruff problem.

How to Manage Anger

Anger is a natural emotion and an evolutionary necessity that humans need to ramp up aggression fast for survival. Anger helped early man to ward off or hunt down our own predators. The behaviour of violence toward prey, predator, and other enemies may never have occurred if man kept his emotions on a calm, even keel. Anger has helped man hunt successfully and protect kith and kin from threats. Cold anger may have also sparked sharpened intellects that plotted both offensive and defensive strategies for the good of the whole community.
As man’s social structures evolved, so have the use of anger. Anger was utilised as a powerful negotiating tool. As a bargaining ace, the emotion of anger proved generally advantageous to winning a conflict of interest, especially for those most blessed with physical strength and propensity toward physical violence.
Modern life with its system of laws, social behaviour and religious mores, however, frowns on displays of anger and violence, both which disrupt the civilised flow of modern life. Indeed, unwanted expressions of anger can damage personal and social relationships, cause law-breaking, inflict harm on others, and even harm to one’s self.

Anger Management

The emotion of anger includes a wide range of feelings from simmering annoyance to stark, white rage. As an emotion, anger is not wrong. It is how it is expressed that can makes it undesirable or downright dangerous.
While lashing out to express anger may not be a good thing, suppressing a natural emotion such as anger does not make a healthy alternative either. Indeed, it is a “damned-if-you-do and damned-if-you-don’t” acknowledge anger situation. One has to find that sweet spot by which to effectively manage anger in a positive and healthy way. In other words, we need to learn to how to handle our temper.
When our temper gets the best of us and creates trouble for us at work, home, and even in the area of our general well-being, it is time to learn some anger management skills. Anger does not just affect the angry person but also those around him. Anger can cause us to be physically, verbally, and psychologically abusive to others. In cases where children get into our angry crosshairs, we can effect some psychological injury on them, making it doubly necessary to watch our temper.
Handling our anger does not mean suppressing it. The keyword here is defuse...anger must be defused in order to manage it.

Defusing Anger

Recognize the Red Flags

Know that there are physical warning signs that clue us into your state of emotion, if we care to be more aware of them. These warning signs are significant because recognizing them can help us control anger and take steps to defuse it before letting the emotion spiral out of control. These are some signs of mounting anger:

• Sensation of increasing pressure in the head
• Heated and flushing face
• Increased heart rate
• Increased breathing
• Increased sweating
• Muscular tension especially around the jaw and arms
• Chest tension
• Shaking
• Anxiety
• Pacing

Know the Triggers

What can set off our fuses? Write them down. Even little things can trigger anger especially when stress is starting to get the better of us. A person who unintentionally ignores us, a restaurant running out of our favourite food, cold coffee, a small dent on the fender...recognize what specifically trips our wires so we can either avoid them or learn to trivialize these annoyances as not worth our angry time.

Time Out

Blow the whistle on ourselves when we encounter a foul. We need to get away from the situation by leaving the room, going out for a brisk walk, taking the car for a drive, or hiding in the bathroom as a calming technique. During this time out, we need to assess how we can talk about the situation later on and stay calm in the process. It is important to make time to get back and resolve whatever made us angry but we need to do so sans our ire.

Distract and Relax

When we start gritting our teeth and feel smoke rising from our ears, we need to shake our mind to focus on something else. Soothing music, talking to a friend, or scrubbing the oven spotless are examples of distractions that could defuse our tension and help us relax.
To take tempers down a notch or two, relaxation techniques can be very helpful. Focusing on deep long breaths and consciously relaxing each muscle gradually decreases feelings of stress and tension.

Hone Skills on Assertiveness

Sometimes people make us angry because they are not clear or are ignorant of what ticks us off. That is because we have not been assertive enough to draw clear boundaries.
Assertiveness does not mean aggressiveness or forcefulness. Assertiveness does not mean being intractable and uncompromising on our stand. That is being aggressive. When we feel angry or annoyed about something, being assertive about how we feel can channel our anger towards expressing it in clear and respectful ways. Being assertive means being able to stand up for one’s dignity and rights by :

• communicating plainly to others about one’s feelings, needs, and wants
• feeling comfortable about communicating those feelings and needs
• respecting other people’s needs and feelings also
• compromise or negotiate toward a resolution

Standing up for ourselves does not need us to attack or provoke other people unnecessarily. We also cannot remain passive, swallowing our anger, and letting things slide all the time. This is why we need to develop the skills to walk the line of assertiveness. Self-help books, seminars on anger management, and the like can point you toward honing your personal skills on being assertive.
When we start to feel angry, we should neither sit and stew nor go about in a rage. We manage our anger to get us what we feel we deserve. This way we gain control of ourselves and gain the respect of others.