Itchy scalp

[boxcarguy07]

Recently I've developed a scalp that is very itchy in certain patches, and the itchiness is accompanied by small scab-like things. Well, they feel like scabs, and I can pick them off of the skin underneath my hair. Gross, I know.

This isn't anything new, but it comes and it goes. And the weird thing is, the itching doesn't really bother me until night time, especially when I'm lying in bed, making it difficult to sleep (I was in bed, but I got up to post this). It's mostly the back of my head.

So I'm wondering could this be caused by a nutritional deficiency? I can't think of anything I would be deficient in, unless my body is not efficiently absorbing everything.

Does anyone have any light to shed on this issue?

[TylerDurden]

The usual natural remedy is tea-trea oil or lavender oil used on the scalp/hair.
The conditions associated with itchy scalp are seborrhoeic dermatitis(supposedly alleviated by eating extra omega-3 fats) and head-lice.There are one or two  other conditions such as sunburn or dandruff, but are likely not applicable here.

[boxcarguy07]

I see...
I imagine I'm getting enough Omega-3s.
I actually do have some tea tree oil, so I'll give that a try. Thanks!

[wodgina]

The reason why tea tree oil works is because scalp itching is often caused by fungus. Yours sounds like mild dermatitis, eczema or psoriasis. They all seem to be caused by fungus.

Fungus loves humid dark places (Thick hair!)  fungus also loves omega 6 oils and keratin.

Maybe consider cutting down sugar also

[boxcarguy07]

Loves thick hair, huh? My hair is extremely thick.  I've never ever had a haircut where the barber hasn't made a comment on the thickness of my hair!
I'm planning on a buzz cut very very soon. Get this, my parents actually forbade me from buzzing my head while I'm here in their house. They said they like my hair too much, lol. But I'm moving back to school tonight, so that won't be a problem anymore.

I don't eat much sugar... If I cut down on sugar anymore, I wouldn't be eating any at all!
I have some unheated honey 3x a week (on my workout days) and I eat a bit of fruit each morning.

Putting apple cider vinegar on helps with the itch temporarily, but it just smells so much that it's not very practical all the time!

[Sully]

you may have gotten sun burnt on your head somehow

[xylothrill]

But he has really thick hair. It could be larvae living under his scalp. I saw that once on TV. True stories of the ER... or something like that. They would stick their heads, or some kind of tubes out to breathe once in a while. Then they'd move around. No one believed the poor lady until a doctor finally saw one come up for air and go right back down. Here, they'd been treating her as a phych patient till then.

Craig

[boxcarguy07]

Yeah, I doubt it's sunburn. My hair is REALLY thick.
The tea tree oil really does help with the itching, but only temporarily and the scabby flakes are still on my scalp.
That larvae thing sounds not good. Was she able to be treated, jw?

[xylothrill]

Yes, with tweezers! 

http://teaandcrumpets.vox.com/library/post/an-urban-myth-that-isnt.html

[Raw Kyle]

I have the same problem. Sometimes it's dandruff and sometimes it's scabby things, although the itching is mild or non-existent. Interestingly the rest of my body has moist skin, so I'm assuming it's a fungal thing or something not related to skin dryness issues.

[boxcarguy07]

Yeah, for the most part the rest of my skin is not dry (except my elbows, which for some reason are very dry and have been my whole life)

[boxcarguy07]

Well, I don't know if there's something magical in Burt's Bees shampoo (it has a lot of citrus oils in it), or if my problem was simply a cleanliness issue, but I bought some of their shampoo and conditioner the other day and started using it. Since then, I've had no itching or flakes or anything. I guess going 'poo-free didn't quite work for me.

[TylerDurden]

I haven't used shampoo for years, and my hair self-regulates re cleanliness so it's fine. In pre-rawpaleo days, my hair was so ultra-greasy that I had to wahs my hair pretty often.

[boxcarguy07]

Yeah, I think that it's a particular ingredient in the shampoo I bought that helped my problem.
I'll probably go back to shampoo-free after the bottles are used up, and see if my problem returns.
Although, I must say I like what this shampoo does to my hair, haha. It's VERY soft and looks shorter because the curls are tighter.
Ugh, I disgust myself talking like that 

[wodgina]

I've always got a lot of attention because of my curly ringlett hair. I keep it really short now,

I'ce noticed some grey hair disappearing too, not much, but I've had a comment about my hair looking darker.

[boxcarguy07]

Yeah, I get asked every so often if someone can "touch my hair"

That's interesting, because my hair's gotten a lot lighter over the past couple years. It used to be really dark brown, almost black, but now it's pretty much straight-up brown

[TylerDurden]

People always remark how my light-brown hair becomes blondish after some exposure to the Mediterranean sun.

[RawZi]

I haven't used shampoo for years, and my hair self-reulates re cleanliness so it's fine. In pre-rawpaleo days, my hair was so ultra-greasy that I had to wahs my hair pretty often.

    That reminds me.  My skin has been super oily since I was eleven, on my face anyhow.  Then I went vegan for years, raw vegan for months, vegetarian for years.  I had to wash my face several times per day for the oil.  My skin was blotchy looking and red.  Make-up couldn't cover any of it; because it couldn't stay on without slipping off for the 'natural' oils. Raw fruitarian for a month here and there, the only thing that temporarily stopped the oil was extended water only fasting.  After a while my skin was getting more and more darker yellow oil.  Since starting RAFs, I rarely have any oil, if I do it's rarely yellow at all, my skin feels a million times better (more flexible not overstretched), and a bonus: rarely any earwax!  I had been getting so much for so long, and didn't know it was possible for anyone not to.  The temperature evenness has also improved remarkably.  I could probably wear make-up now without it sliding away, but I have absolutely no desire to.  Also my skin has improved on my lower body, but in the reverse.  My scalp also used to be awful, but although RAF has helped my hair a lot, I stopped shampooing first, and that began to help. 

[Carne Cruda]

... fungus also loves omega 6 oils and keratin.

Maybe consider cutting down sugar also

So omega 6 can cause even that?!
Omega 6 feeds yeast, fungus, candida?

Could anyone refer to any links of studies?
Don't get me wrong, it's not like I wouldn't believe it.
And I myself I'm trying, anyway, to cut back on  omega 6 more and more ( starting with eating more raw salmon and avoiding all nuts for a bit).

But I'd love it if there were some studies where they say "this amount of omega 6 raised/lowered this other thing".
Compared to sugar though, the whole Omega 6 - Omega 3, isn't as much backed-up.

Same thing with Phytosterols.
You can find plenty of articles pointing on both directions (healthy vs unhealthy) but there's a lack of solid studies with numeric amounts, values.

Recently I focused my attention to Beta-sitosterol, and while I'm kind of convinced that it could be savvy to avoid it, there's a lack of studies of a certain type. Unfortunately.
So when, for example, I have to face 153mg of Beta-sitosterol contained in an average avocado, I don't even have any idea how to evaluate 150 mg.
For all what I now it could be a huge amount as well as a totally negligible amount. Damn.

[jessica]

people who have itchy scalps usually have excess sebum and that is constituted of unsaturated omega6-9 fats...
read on seborrhoeic dermatitis type issues and you can find some information on this, the yeasts thrive and feed in this environment