I have no idea how to describe this - scalp sludge

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have seen adults diagnosed with cradle cap. Could it be this?

I’m prone to this. If I leave my hair to air dry and go to sleep with it damp it happens to me. Is it itchy? If it’s itchy it may be this. It’s often like a yeast issue. If you can’t get it off with some agitation, then an apple cider vinegar rinse (dilute it with water) can help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Use good ol' head and shoulders everyday for a while if you are an ethnicity that washes your hair everyday or every other day otherwise use head and shoulders when you wash and use sulfur 8 grease on your scalp on the in between days till the issue clears up.

Use the regular head and shoulders with sulfates, not the version that is advertised as sulfate free. And beyond that use shampoos with sulfates generally--sulfate free shampoos are useless.

This

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have seen adults diagnosed with cradle cap. Could it be this?

I’m prone to this. If I leave my hair to air dry and go to sleep with it damp it happens to me. Is it itchy? If it’s itchy it may be this. It’s often like a yeast issue. If you can’t get it off with some agitation, then an apple cider vinegar rinse (dilute it with water) can help.

Came here to suggest exactly this. When my scalp feels funky, I do an acv rinse using a condiment bottle I bought of Amazon so I can get it directly on my scalp. Scalpicin (otc, salicylic acid) can also help. I always have a bottle in my bathroom, especially in summer to use after wearing a hat on a sweaty day.

[Anonymous]

Something that's primarily anti-yeast isn't going to help if your problem is excess sebum, not dandruff. Something acidic might help (salicylic acid, vinegar) or the clarifying shampoo, which uses stronger detergents than regular shampoo. Or just scrubbing it.

[Anonymous]

+3 to the apple cider vinegar rinse. Your head smells like a salad immediately after, but within a few minutes the smell dissipates and you are left with just a clean scalp and the cleanest hair!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It isn't flaky.
But when I run my fingernail across my scalp, I get white/cream sludge -- like shampoo residue -- despite rinsing thoroughly.
It usually happens on a day when I didn't wash my hair.
What IS this? How can I get rid of it?

Use a dandriff shampoo daily. Really.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It isn't flaky.
But when I run my fingernail across my scalp, I get white/cream sludge -- like shampoo residue -- despite rinsing thoroughly.
It usually happens on a day when I didn't wash my hair.
What IS this? How can I get rid of it?

Maybe you should see a dermatologist. I've never heard of someone having a gross condition like this...or at least admitting to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please explain. Why do we need a clarifying shampoo?

It gets rid of excess build up of both styling products and naturally produced oils in your hair. If you used a shampoo like this daily, it would probably dry your hair out because some amount of natural oil in your hair is normal and good and will help it feel healthy and moisturized (and make it look shinier and be easier to style). But if your scalp produces too much and your regular products aren't pulling it out, you need to periodically use a clarifying shampoo essentially as a reset, or your hair will feel heavy and greasy.

30 years ago, basically all shampoos were what we'd now call clarifying, but the result was that a lot of people had dry hair because at least in the US, the cultural expectation was that you'd wash your hair daily. So people were just stripping all the natural oil out of their hair every day, leading to a lot of people with super dry and damaged hair, especially people with textured hair or people who color treated their hair. That kicked off a range of movements for sulfate-free shampoos (sulfates cleanse your hair but are drying), no-poo and low-poo options (washing with conditioner only or only shampooing every third shower for instance), and stuff like "curly girl method" which recommends washing your hair only every few days in order to help it retain moisture and avoid frizz. But if you only use sulfate-free shampoo or skip a lot of shampoo washes, you will wind up with a lot of build up and need a clarifying shampoo.

[Anonymous]

I have this issue too I'm trying dandruff shampoo. Clarifying shampoo didn't do anything but strip and dry my hair and make my scalp even drier. It didn't seem to "clean" my scalp. What have you tried and what have been your results? Do you have an update?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have seen adults diagnosed with cradle cap. Could it be this?

I remember when one of my babies had terrible cradle cap. I placed him in his round "entertainment center" and applied vegetable oil to his head. Let it sit there and soak in while we played. Then I took a fine tooth comb and scraped all of that sebum right up - the oil had softened it so it didn't hurt. In fact, I think it felt really good because he seemed delighted! Anyway, after scraping it all up, I gave him a bath and shampoo and his scalp was totally clean. Worked great on a baby with very little hair - probably would be harder on someone with a lot of long hair, though I've wanted to try it on myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have seen adults diagnosed with cradle cap. Could it be this?

I’m prone to this. If I leave my hair to air dry and go to sleep with it damp it happens to me. Is it itchy? If it’s itchy it may be this. It’s often like a yeast issue. If you can’t get it off with some agitation, then an apple cider vinegar rinse (dilute it with water) can help.

DP. How long do you leave the ACV on before rinsing?

[Anonymous]

How does all this work with dyed/highlighted hair?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It isn't flaky.
But when I run my fingernail across my scalp, I get white/cream sludge -- like shampoo residue -- despite rinsing thoroughly.
It usually happens on a day when I didn't wash my hair.
What IS this? How can I get rid of it?

Maybe you should see a dermatologist. I've never heard of someone having a gross condition like this...or at least admitting to it.

Do you confide in others often, and do other confide in you? Confidence makes bonds grow stronger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have seen adults diagnosed with cradle cap. Could it be this?

I remember when one of my babies had terrible cradle cap. I placed him in his round "entertainment center" and applied vegetable oil to his head. Let it sit there and soak in while we played. Then I took a fine tooth comb and scraped all of that sebum right up - the oil had softened it so it didn't hurt. In fact, I think it felt really good because he seemed delighted! Anyway, after scraping it all up, I gave him a bath and shampoo and his scalp was totally clean. Worked great on a baby with very little hair - probably would be harder on someone with a lot of long hair, though I've wanted to try it on myself.

I did this on my kids, too. It kind of worked for me but not like with the kids, because it does just get caught in your hair. That's my problem with scalp masks, tea tree oil, and vinegar as well. Shampoos which lather up are so much easier to actually just get on your scalp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s sebhorreic dermatitis. Head and shoulders will help.

I have it and it is physically uncomfortable. Tried H&S, salicylic acid, t gel, nizoral, tea tree oil, topical steroids. Nothing helps.

Would love any advice that works.