If you struggle with dandruff, I have the perfect 3 step process to help get your flaky and itchy scalp under control.

I spent years struggling with dandruff, and I was so excited to finally discovered a very simple process that gets rid of my dandruff and puts my scalp in perfect health.

1. Medicated Shampoo

To treat your scalp, you’ll need to find a shampoo that specifically treats dandruff. In my opinion, it doesn’t need to be expensive or fancy. Just a shampoo that has ingredients that target dandruff.

Some active ingredients to look for are:

  • Zinc pyrithione
  • Selinium sulfide
  • Salicylic acid
  • Sulfur
  • Coal-tar solution

All of these ingredients are approved actives in the United States. I have not tried shampoos with all these ingredients but the one I have personally found success with is Zinc Pyrithione.

My Current Shampoo and Conditioner Combo

I use Head and Shoulders Royal Oils. It’s not only my favorite dandruff shampoo, but my favorite overall. One thing I love about this particular line is that it comes with a specially formulated conditioner. That pretty rare for dandruff shampoos!

Now, it’s pretty common for dandruff shampoos to make your hair dry. I’ve tried many shampoos from the head and shoulders line, the royal oils does a great job at keeping moisture in my hair.

I’ll also be sharing a hair moisturizing secret I discovered a bit later!

Should You Try Home Remedies For Dandruff?

There’s a ton of information on how to get rid of dandruff. Many are home remedies or natural approaches. I did try a lot of this advice, but didn’t have any success. Unfortunately, many home remedies worsened my scalp and often made it itchy and irritated.

This isn’t to deter you from trying home remedies or a natural approach, but in my opinion, if you truly have dandruff and issues related to it, you need to use a treatment shampoo.

2. Use Your Medicated Shampoo Consistently

You can’t permanently get rid of dandruff. But it can be controlled which is why using a medicated shampoo is so important.

I know there are lots of claims from people, many in the health care profession that talk about getting rid of dandruff. But as someone that has had it for years and tried all types of tips, the only successful long term way is to consistently treat it.

This means every wash, you should pretty much be using your treatment shampoo.

My Shampooing Technique

The key is to only apply the shampoo to the scalp and lather. It’s just like any other topical medicine. You only want to get it on the affected area. This method also helps the rest of your hair to retain its moisture.

  1. Before washing, I put my hair in a loose bun. This helps with shampooing only the scalp.
  2. I apply the shampoo to my scalp and lather around my bun and rinse. I shampoo 2 times for the best results.
  3. I take down my bun after the 2nd rinse and let any remaining suds cleanse the rest of my hair.
  4. I apply conditioner to the rest of my hair avoiding the scalp.

Tip: I often use a shampoo brush. It massages my scalp and helps loosen dandruff for a cleaner scalp.

When I first started this method, I washed my hair about every 4 days. When I started to see results, I went back to my regular washing schedule.

As a side note, I generally wash my hair once a week. I have very think and coarse hair. If you need to wash your hair more often, you may want to experiment with how often you need to wash your hair with a treatment shampoo to get the best results. But I find that the more often you use it, the faster results you’ll get in the beginning. And then you can find a good and effective routine from there.

3. Use A Conditioning Hair Mask

My big secret to keeping my hair moisturized when using a dandruff shampoo is to use a conditioning hair mask as your conditioner.

Hair masks are generally thicker and more moisturizing than regular conditioner. The one I use is Macadamia Deep Repair Intense Mask. I usually leave it on for 5 to 7 minutes as instructed and it keeps my hair very moisturized. At one point I was using the royal oils conditioner but since my hair is naturally dry, using this hair mask really helps.

When I need a bit of extra moisture, I’ll use the Royal Oils Conditioner first, rinse and then apply my hair mask.

How To Get Rid Of Dandruff For Good

This is a very simple but effective way to get your dandruff under control. It can easily be tweaked depending on the severity of your scalp.

It also maybe be necessary to experiment with different treatment shampoos and hair masks to get your desired results. But remember to stay consistent and give your method time to work before moving to something else. With the right product and method, you’ll have you dandruff at bay in no time.