Dry, flaky skin on your scalp can be uncomfortable and awkward. Those flakes can be caused by dandruff or psoriasis, which are two very different conditions.
Dandruff, known as seborrhea, can normally be treated fairly quickly and is seldom a serious medical issue. Psoriasis, on the other hand, is a chronic condition without an existing remedy, and one that can cause a lot of pain and discomfort.
How To Know If You Have Dandruff
Dandruff is a condition marked by flakes of dry skin on the scalp. The flakes can frequently fall from your hair and arrive at your shoulders. Dandruff normally results from a dry scalp. If this is the cause, the flakes are typically small and you might have dry skin on other parts of your body.
Washing your hair with a harsh hair shampoo or using a great deal of chemicals on your hair can often irritate your scalp and result in flakes.
A relatively common condition called seborrheic dermatitis is the cause of lots of dandruff cases. It’s defined by spots of red and oily skin that leave yellow-colored flakes on the scalp. These flakes are typically bigger than dandruff flakes that take place from dry skin. Seborrheic dermatitis can also cause flaky, irritated spots somewhere else on your body, which may lead you to believe you have psoriasis.
How To Know If You Have Psoriasis
Unlike dandruff, psoriasis is an issue rooted in your body immune system. It’s thought about an autoimmune disease, which indicates special proteins called autoantibodies attack healthy tissue.
Routine antibodies just appear to fight off an infection caused by an infection or bacteria. If you have psoriasis, your body immune system causes an unhealthy and abnormal growth of new skin that gathers in dry, flaky patches on your body, including the scalp.
Typically, dead skin is dropped in small, thin pieces from the outer layer of skin. Neither you nor anybody else can ever inform that you’re losing dead skin. New, healthy skin cells are forming below the surface of your skin and in a matter of weeks rise to the surface area to change the dead skin.
If you have psoriasis, that procedure speeds up in different spots on your body, so there’s no time at all for the dead skin to go through its regular shedding. That causes dead skin cells to develop on the surface area. This normally happens on the:
- scalp
- elbows
- knees
- back.
Psoriasis can take different kinds. In some cases your skin may look split and dry. Other times it might be reddened and dotted with small silvery patches.
See also: How To Know If You Have Dandruff or Lice
Prevention. Dandruff and Psoriasis
There’s no way to avoid psoriasis. It can develop in anyone at any age, however is less common in children. It normally first appears in adults between the ages of 30 and 39 or between the ages of 50 and 69.
Dandruff, however, can normally be prevented. Using a daily dandruff shampoo is typically enough to keep dandruff from forming. Keeping your hair tidy, in basic, is a good idea. Oil and dirt can build up on your scalp and cause your scalp to dry. Brushing your hair away from the scalp will likewise help keep oil from collecting on your scalp.
Treatment alternatives. Dandruff and Psoriasis
Psoriasis can be treated with topical lotions and medications, a lot of which are steroids, but those only serve to make the symptoms rather milder. There’s no remedy. Drugs called disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs are provided to individuals with moderate to severe psoriasis. Light therapy, which targets psoriasis problem spots with specially guided ultraviolet light, can likewise help treat the symptoms of psoriasis.
Dandruff, on the other hand, can normally be treated with medicated hair shampoo. It’s likewise essential that you follow the instructions of any shampoo you use. Some can be used a few times weekly, and others need to only be used once weekly. You may have to switch hair shampoos, too, as one may end up being less effective gradually.
When to see a doctor
If your dandruff does not go away, or get better after two weeks of antidandruff shampoo, you may have to see a skin doctor. There are prescription dandruff hair shampoos that may have the strength you have to conquer the issue. You may also require a medicated lotion.
If all signs indicate psoriasis, you need to likewise see a skin doctor. You may have psoriatic arthritis if stiff or swollen joints accompany your psoriasis. A rheumatologist can treat this condition. Your primary care doctor ought to be able to help collaborate your care and your numerous professionals.
