Dandruff is a skin condition that mainly affects the scalp.Symptoms include flaking and sometimes mild itchiness. A more severe form of the condition, which includes inflammation of the skin, is known as seborrhoeic dermatitis.

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The responsible agent is a scalp specific fungus, Malassezia globosa.

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As the skin layers continually replace themselves, cells are pushed outward where they die and flake off. For most individuals, these flakes of skin are too small to be visible. However, certain conditions cause cell turnover to be unusually rapid, especially in the scalp.

 It is hypothesized that for people with dandruff, skin cells may mature and be shed in 2–7 days, as opposed to around a month in people without dandruff. The result is that dead skin cells are shed in large, oily clumps, which appear as white or grayish flakes on the scalp, skin and clothes.

 

According to one study, dandruff has been shown to be possibly the result of three factors:

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• Skin oil commonly referred to as sebum or sebaceous secretions

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• The metabolic by-products of skin micro-organisms (most specifically Malassezia yeasts)

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• Individual susceptibility and allergy sensitivity.

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In seborrhoeic dermatitis, redness and itching frequently occur around the folds of the nose and eyebrow areas, not just the scalp.

Dandruff cannot be cured, but it can be cntrolled with regular washing, particularly with medicated shampoos and tablets (if severe). These shampoos help to reduce fungus on your scalp that can cause dandruff.