How to Get Rid of an Itchy Scalp
Jul 21, 2022 | By Maria Eliza Pineda
Are you struggling with the constant itching on your head? Don’t let it get the best of you! Address the problem and find out how you can get rid of it using the best products and home remedies.
An itchy scalp can be due to environmental factors like dirt, pollution, or bacteria. It can also be caused by things such as having a bad diet, dry scalp, damaged hair, sebum overproduction, and dandruff. The worst part about it is that having an itchy, irritated scalp can also lead to more severe problems and harm both your scalp and hair. Persistent scratching can irritate and injure your scalp and may lead to abrasions, redness, inflammation, flakiness, bleeding, and stinging sensations.
It’s best to address this problem early on rather than let it get to a point where other complications may arise. Thankfully, an itchy scalp is pretty easy to treat. You only have to trace the root cause for it, and you can easily change up something in your routine that will get rid of that irritation completely.
Here are some things you can do to try and get to the root of the problem, and get rid of that prickly feeling once and for all.
Deep Cleanse Your Hair
Usually, it’s recommended that you don’t wash your hair too often to reduce both dryness and overly oily scalp and hair. This is especially important for people with textured, curly, oily, or kinky hair. However, if you do like to use styling products on your hair and if your everyday life requires you to be out and about where your hair can gather a lot of dust and pollution, then you probably need to incorporate a deep cleanse for your hair more often.
You don’t have to wash your hair every day, but it will be a lot better if you do a deep cleaning every once in a while. It’s up to you to find out the frequency and routine that suits you. Try experimenting by doing it more often if the itching doesn’t stop. The important thing is to make sure that you can thoroughly and deeply cleanse your hair of all the buildup and impurities that it may have accumulated.
A normal shampoo or co-wash won’t suffice. For this, you need a clarifying and purifying shampoo that’s designed to get in there and get rid of all the gunk in your hair. You won’t need to use this as much as your regular shampoo, so get yourself a gentle shampoo for regular use and only use your clarifying shampoo when you want a thorough cleanse.
The Mayraki Itch Relief Anti-dandruff & Volumizing Amino Acid Shampoo is the best shampoo for itchy scalp and deep cleansing. It has a plant-based formula with 15 amino acids that help control excess sebum. It’s anti-dandruff and it’s also a clarifying shampoo designed to get rid of heavy product buildup in your hair, which makes it ideal for deep cleansing.
Change Up Your Diet
Diet also has a huge impact on your hair and scalp health. Food is our fuel and the reason our body does what it does. What you eat will affect your energy, health, mental capacity, looks, and yes, your hair. If you notice that your hair isn’t as shiny and strong as it once was or like you want it to be, and you haven’t been doing anything to it that might be causing any damage, it might have something to do with what you’re eating.
Change up your diet and avoid eating fast food, oily foods, and junk food. Try cutting out things such as dairy, gluten, eggs, and other known allergens to see if anything changes.
Make sure you eat healthy foods such as vegetables, fruits, and foods that have essential fatty acids like salmon, tuna, mackerel, avocado, and more. Take out all the bad stuff and keep the good stuff coming in, and you’ll find that both your hair, scalp and your whole body will change for the better.
Change Up the Products You’re Using
A lot of people have no idea that they might have a sensitive scalp. Just like the skin, your scalp gets irritated with the products that you’ve been using. Your hair products might contain chemicals that are causing an irritable reaction on your scalp.
Try changing up the products that you’re using. Gradually start excluding certain products from your routine and observe what happens. If you stop using something and the itchiness and irritation on your scalp lessen, chances are it was what was causing it. Replace products that might contain harsh chemicals with products that are gentle and have natural ingredients.
Use Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is a well-known home remedy for numerous hair and scalp issues including several causes of itchiness. It’s packed with vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids that can nourish your hair and scalp and improve its overall health. Whether it’s a dry scalp, dandruff, or even lice, coconut oil can help get rid of it.
For dry scalp and dandruff, you can take 2 teaspoons of coconut oil with 5 drops of either lavender, thyme, wintergreen, or tea tree oil and massage it into your scalp, roots, ends, and the back of your neck. Leave this on for 20 to 30 minutes and do it 2 to 3 times a week. This treatment will help fight the fungus and yeast that causes dandruff and itching on your scalp and it will give your hair and scalp some hydration.
For lice, studies show that coconut oil is actually more effective at prevention and treatment of lice than permethrin (a common lice medication). Coconut oil was 82% more effective than the permethrin spray with only a 42% effectiveness. Not only is coconut oil more effective, but it’s also a much gentler and natural remedy for lice that you can find just about anywhere, which makes it very convenient.
For an even more effective lice treatment, just take 3 tablespoons of coconut oil and mix in 1 teaspoon of ylang-ylang oil, anise oil, and tea tree oil. Apply the mixture on your scalp and hair and massage it in. Cover your head with a cap and let it do its magic for 2 hours. Then you can take a fine-toothed lice com and run it through your hair until everything is clean. After that, spray with a mixture of 2 cups of apple cider vinegar and 1 cup water and do a rinse with this mixture as well. Follow it up with another very light application of coconut oil and leave it on until your next wash. This method will need to be done for 5 to 10 days. This method is 92% effective and will cause no side effects even in children.
For lice prevention, use some coconut oil as a natural leave-in conditioner.
Use Good Quality Products
Last but not least, always keep an eye out and choose good quality products for your hair. Research and find out what ingredients are good and which ones to avoid. To be safe, look for products that have natural and plant-based ingredients. This will lessen the chance of irritation or any bad reaction that you might have towards harsh chemicals.
Begone Itchiness!
Don’t tolerate the irritation that you’re feeling in your scalp. It needs to begone so that you can live your best life and not skip the discomfort of the constant itching. Make sure that you take good care of both your scalp and hair and choose only the best products so you can keep them healthy and free from itchiness.