What is Dandruff?
Dandruff is a health condition, where the skin on the scalp turns into dry white flakes, which sheds off from time to time. These flakes are dead skin cells and their shedding is a normal process. When white flakes shed off in large numbers, they start showing off into the hair and on clothing. Dandruff often causes constant itching and may spread all over or may be present in patches on the scalp area. It can be triggered by a variety of reasons like stress, hormonal imbalance, weaker immune system or certain health conditions and medications, which can affect health. In some people dandruff may be triggered after exposure to sunlight.
When dandruff is untreated it expands in leaps and bound and amplifies during winter season and summer months. Usually dandruff can be managed by keeping the hair clean and washing them regularly, however, if required, medical help must be sought. While various factors and causes are believed to result in dandruff, it is equally important to know about its relation with other conditions. It is important to understand whether dandruff is contiguous or not and if it can cause hair loss.
Is Dandruff Contagious?
It is sometimes thought that dandruff is contagious and can spread from person to person. It is important to understand the factors related to this. Certainly dandruff is not communicable or infectious condition. Dandruff can occur or aggravate due to climate change, for using wrong beauty products and when scalp is kept unclean for many days.
However growing yeast is the main reason why dandruff increases and these microbes are held directly responsible for varying skin problems. Maximum organisms which are present on skin are not always responsible in increasing dandruff.
Another dandruff condition, called walking dandruff, is usually visible in dogs and other mammals. When dog skin is infected with mites, these mites can be transferred to other animals and humans. This type of dandruff is primarily contagious to animals and also humans. However, this dandruff can be killed and cured with proper medication.
Can Dandruff Cause Hair Loss?
It is seen that many people suffering from dandruff experience hair fall as a result of extreme itching and intense scratching. Dandruff leads to constant urge for itching and can eventually result in loss of hair. Intense rubbing or scratching can damage the hair roots and loosen the hair grip. Dandruff may thus be one of the important causes of hair loss.
The relation between hair fall and dandruff is hardly known to people. It is worth knowing about dermatitis, a skin condition, which causes itching and damage to the scalp, resulting in dandruff, which can also trigger hair loss. Most people suffering from dandruff are known to experience hair fall and most of them also suffer from dermatitis. There are different kinds of dermatitis which one should know.
Hair fall may have other reasons, health conditions or something else as well, but dandruff too can be one of the causes of hair loss. But in most cases, it is seen that dandruff is directly or indirectly involved in constant hair loss. Scratching induces trauma and irritation, which accelerates hair loss. So it is not dandruff all the time but vehement scratching activity that can cause hair fall.
Dandruff or Hair Fall, Which Comes First
Although dandruff can cause hair fall in some people, there are few shampoos containing harmful chemicals. Substances like minoxidil in shampoo, helps in treating hair damage but this ingredient can cause flaking. Flaking can result in dandruff like condition and can trigger hair loss. As dandruff is indirectly responsible for hair loss, while using shampoo or other hair care products, one should be conscious about such substances which can irritate the scalp.
Some medicines taken on regular basis too can cause dryness and trigger hair loss by weakening the root of the hair. Whether it is a kind of fungal infection like malassezia attack, stress, unhealthy diet, continuous illness, using unhealthy beauty product, medication or irregular lifestyle one should find out the cause that triggers dandruff expansion and hair loss.
Lack of hygiene is one of the biggest causes of dandruff and hair loss. While dandruff is not necessarily contagious, maintaining good hygienic standards are essential. As dandruff can in some way or the other cause hair loss, treating dandruff can protect hair to a great extent.
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