August 6, 2010 – If you have dandruff, do not worry about being alone with your problem. Apparently one out of every two people in the entire world has, or has had dandruff.

Dandruff is a common hair problem; does that make it any less embarrassing? Nope, but it’s a very common problem nonetheless!

So this week we get to understand what dandruff is and what causes it…

Our entire skin, from our scalp to the soles of our feet, sheds dead skin cells on a daily basis. We get a complete coating of new skin every 28 days or so, but we hardly even notice it.

Our bodies also play host to a lot of micro-organisms like bacteria and fungi, feeding off on the sebaceous oils that our skin produces.

Our scalp in particular is home to a kind of fungus called malassezia fungus, and its food is the oils produced by the hair follicles of our scalp.

Dandruff happens when, for some reason or another, the malassezia fungus goes crazy and irritates our scalp, causing the dead skin to shed a lot faster.

So, instead of shedding the dead skin cells of our scalp once a month, the shedding happens in less than two weeks, and the oil that our hair follicles produce cause these dead skin cells to clump together and become dandruff.

Until now, the factors that trigger this phenomenon with the malassezia fungus are still the subject of research.

Dandruff is an embarrassing hair condition, and it can recur despite your best efforts. But with proper hair care, its recurrence can be controlled. So next week, I’ll send through some tips!