Symptoms of dandruff

What is Dandruff and Where Does It Manifest Itself?

Dandruff is a skin condition taking place on a person's scalp area. It is also called seborrhea, although this is the name for the condition which takes place on many different body parts. Namely, wherever we have high concentration of oil produced on our body, seborrhea is likely to occur. These areas are our back, behind and inside our ears, face, underarms and some other locations. It is manifested through numerous small parts of dry skin on the surface of our regular skin. The area below the dandruff or seborrhea may be red and easily irritable to the touch, water or similar stimulations, feeling dry and greasy beforehand. Depending on the parts of the body exposed to this condition, the seborrhea itself manifests differently. Even though seborrhea and dandruff are very common, the most endangered groups are babies, adults, especially males and people suffering from some severe illnesses negatively affecting their immune system.

How Does One Recognize Dandruff?

The first indicator are the tiny pieces of skin mentioned before. Namely, those who suffer from dandruff can see these skin flakes on the surface of their hair, on their shoulders and clothes. Once one perceives this sign, he or she may almost be completely sure that it is dandruff. However, there is only one other condition with similar effects. Sometimes, when we are exposed to extremely high temperatures and dry conditions, the skin from our scalp tends to get detached is small leaves, very similar to that of dandruff. Nevertheless, the quantity of these indicators is quite below those present with the condition this article is about.

There are some additional situations and actions which may lead to skin flaking quite similar to that of dandruff. Sometimes, when we use shampoos, balsams, lotions or any other hair or skin product which is not of high quality, we may experience the creation of skin flakes on our scalp as well. Additionally, hormones, genetics and many other factors may trigger seborrheic dermatitis over all the oily skin parts mentioned above. One's hair may fall out and dandruff may appear, followed by redness and irritation, all being traits of this condition.

Very young children are prone to a dandruff, in their youngest age. This may last for several months and usually disappears on its own. Nevertheless, while lasting it may affect the infant's scalp, or some parts of the body. Children, at a later stage in life, may contract an infection called “the scalp ringworm”. This infection can spread among children, causing redness and dandruff, being able to go over the boundaries of one's scalp and spread onto eyebrows and the area surrounding the eyes and ears. Finally, there is psoriasis. Quite a severe condition, but nevertheless, unable to spread from one person to another, when affecting the head, it produces almost the same effect as dandruff.