Dry Scalp - Farmington,MN

Updated on April 04, 2008
J.O. asks from Farmington, MN
12 answers

My daughter will be 8 next Wednesday and she came home from a visit with her father last weekend with a big patch of flakes on the top of her head. It is not lice and it is not food, it's not dried out shampoo either. I have been combing that patch with a small brush (barbie doll sized), dabbed some baby oil on it with a cotton ball and it does look better this morning. What caused this and any other suggestions on what to do? Thanks!

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So What Happened?

First thank you to everyone! Well, it seems to be mostly gone and I just dabbed baby oil on the spot(s) after her bath and then used a tiny brush. I spent an hour Tuesday night going through it and then about a half hour last night. I also want to say that it is not ringworm, it is definitely a dry patch of some sort. I've been using L'oreal Kids shampoo and have not had any problems so far.

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A.V.

answers from Minneapolis on

We have had the same problem with my step daughter and her mom (we have full custody) i took her to her pediatrician and we found out she was taking too hot of a shower and using the wrong shampoo (adult stuff) She also has mild excema which made everything worse it is like cradle cap that babies get all she told us was not so hot of a shower or bath, kids shampoo (adult stuff is still too strong) and to use cradle cap (in the baby section) or a littl mineral oil on the spot every night and comb it out good.

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A.S.

answers from Minneapolis on

Hey J.;
I have the same issue with my own, 40 year old, scalp. It is probably a slight irritation from shampoo. My own trials and errors have taught me to stay away from Johnson's Baby Shampoo and cheap Trader Joe's brand. Aveda products can be irritating as well but probably because I have a lot of plant and pollen allergies. Aveeno has been good.
Hang in there, I'm a divorced remarried mom of two. This to shall pass.
A. S

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L.R.

answers from Minneapolis on

J. -

I could be dandruff. My son started getting flakes in the top of his hair earlier in the school year. He is 13. I just figured he wasn't rinsing his shampoo out very good, but then one of his teachers emailed me that it looked like dandruff. We tried Head and Shoulders and it didn't work so we switched to Selsum Blue(sp?) and haven't seen any flakes since.

You could see if you can get a sample/travle size and see if it clears up. Good Luck! L.

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B.H.

answers from Minneapolis on

It could be the time of year my daughters head does that too. You could try lotion or vaseline if she's not going anywhere like on the weekend or something.

Visitation with the ex is so hard. Everytime my daughter came home from her dad's we had problems. She was dirty, stinky, her hair was a mess, she had food on her face just little stuff that bothered me. It became routine to strip her when he brought her home, bathe her, and put new fresh clothes on her. He smoked too and my daughter smelled like friedchicken ciggerettes LOL aaahhhhhh after complaining enough about my daughter's care, her father stopped visitations all together. Now I have a cute, clean child but now her dad isn't in her life at all so you have to pick your battles.

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D.S.

answers from Minneapolis on

I know this is an old request, but in case there are others who are dealing with it I thought I would weigh in.

My husband suddenly developed a similar condition several years ago. It turned out that he was under extreme pressure at work and was holding it in and not expressing anything negative to any one. The skin condition was caused by the stress that was not being vented any other way.

Hair is a waste product in the body so any toxins will affect it. Stress is very toxic. Perhaps the stress of being with her father, or away from home or whatever is what brought this on.

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G.

answers from Minneapolis on

It could be ringworm. Is she around cats? I would take her to the dr if it doesn't clear up soon.

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S.M.

answers from Milwaukee on

My son gets the same thing every now and then.
I talked with our family doctor about it, and you can rub a little bit of Diaper rash cream into the scalp to help. Also use a dandrif shampoo for a few weeks and it WILL go away.
It's always worked for us. (as odd as it sounds to put diaper rash cream in your childs hair) I'm not sure what causes it, but good luck!

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A.L.

answers from Green Bay on

For as long as I can remember I have had a dry spot on the back of my scalp. My mom never knew what to do with it. Well, my hairdresser said that it is seriosious (sp?) and all I do is use a generic head and shoulders a couple of times a week. We also use that on our kids for cradle cap. Our pediatrition told me when our kids were tiny to use it. Infact, that is the only shampoo we use on our children (they are not bathed everyday in the winter because it is too hard on their skin so they get it three times a week) their hair is very thick and by useing dandruf shampoo it looks clean and nice.
Good luck.

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M.A.

answers from Minneapolis on

sounds like cradle cap. you need to be using shampoos that do not contain parifin wax in them. such as swave and cheap brands. i will only wash my kids hair with good shampoos like matrix, from the salon.

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T.A.

answers from Minneapolis on

My daughter had this at the very same age. Hers was psoriasis - check the spelling and look it up on webMD.com .

She also would get a dry patch on her elbows or legs once in a while too. It was really mild so when I started researching it I got really freaked out. She is now 16 and rarely has anything. She had dry patches on her hands between the thumb and pointer finger that wouldn't go away so we went in to her pediatrician first and then were referred to a dermatologist. We don't have any problems anymore.

And, p.s. as much as we'd like to think, it probably has very little to do with her dad :).

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M.H.

answers from Sheboygan on

sounds like you need to take her to the dermatoligist. i have a bad dry scalp and it itches all the time. the more you scratch the bigger the "patches" get. i can not spell it correctly but it is called psorioses or exema.

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P.P.

answers from Minneapolis on

I'm not sore what caused it but for dry scalp like cradle cap my Dr. told me to use 1% Cortaid twice a week and Selsun Blue 2ce a week. If it doesn't get better with baby oil. I put the oil on, wait 15 min. or so. comb it well, and wash it out. This didn't work so I let the oil sit overnight and it worked better.

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