All of us, at least once, must have had dandruff, be it, men or women. We all know that this is quite irritating and makes us self-conscious many a time.
Dandruff, a chronic skin condition is known as seborrheic dermatitis of the scalp, that ranges from a minor irritant to a severe rash of the entire scalp. This condition is caused when a skin fungus called Malassezia irritates the sebaceous glands of the scalp and triggers the immune response, which leads to a scaly rash.
Let’s take a look at why we get dandruff in the first place and how can coconut oil help you to get rid of it and let you enjoy a dandruff-free life
Dandruff is a harmless, chronic condition, in which the scalp becomes highly dry and at the same time greasy because of which there is a production of white flakes of dead skin, it is observed to appear in the hair or on the shoulders.
Though not harmful, dandruff can cause people to lose their confidence and self-esteem, because of which there are chances that they can go to depression. It is a significant case with teenagers. In general, 40% of people have to face the problem of dandruff(1).
Why Use Coconut Oil?
People have been using Coconut oil for a long time in homes it has been used in our kitchens to cook food. Also, coconut oil has many good qualities, thus, helping us fight many ailments when a person suffers from a minor burn, everyone insists on using coconut oil as it helps in the healing process of the wound and at the same time relaxes the skin.
It is also good for hair as it prevents our hair from being damaged and at the same time moisturizes it and gives us shiny and dazzling looking hair, making people awestruck around us.
Is Coconut Oil Good for Dandruff
Coconut has many good qualities, because of which our forefathers highly appreciate it. Coconut is said to be highly versatile. The reason why it is supposed to one of the most significant ingredients to kick out dandruff is, coconut oil is rich with emollient texture; also it also consists of many antifungal properties. The above qualities make it an excellent agent for deep conditioning and at the same time dandruff treatment.
Coconut oil is said to be very useful for hair as it contains lauric acid and caprylic acid along with vitamin E because of which coconut oil can easily penetrate your skin and to some extent help you out.
Apart from dandruff if you use this remedy for many days, it also becomes useful for killing lice that are present on the surface of our hair(2).
[Read: Natural Treatments for Dandruff]
How to Use?
There are multiple ways to use coconut oil for dandruff, but one of the best methods which are said to have a significant impact is, to replace it with your regular shampoos and conditioners.
Apply coconut oil directly on the scalp and comb your hair properly so that you can enhance the efficiency of this oil. After applying this oil keep it until you think it has penetrated your skin, make sure that coconut oil has been observed in by your skin so that you can get the desired results.
Now merely wash off your hair and dry them off. If you are having a problem with directly applying this oil to the hair, you can mix coconut oil with warm water and then use it.
Other methods use outside agents for usage of coconut oil one such way is, mixing of essential oils with coconut oil and taking a spa. While applying this mixture, you should make sure that your skin is not sensitive as it can have adverse effects on your skin, try using a shower cap so that this mixture does not spoil your clothing.
[Read: Olive Oil for Dandruff]
Side Effects
Though coconut oil for dandruff is a natural remedy, there are still chances that you might think that there are no side effects associated to it but it is just the contrary though coconut oil is natural there are chances that it might cause side effects some of the common side effects are stated below:
- If you have sensitive skin, it’s best for you to stay away from coconut oil as it is possible that you might have to face rashes. Same is the case when a person is suffering from eczema, I this case also there are chances that a person might have rashes on his skin.
- If you have not used the product or you are not aware of your skin type you can apply small drops of this oil on your skin and wait for several hours as it takes time to determine if this oil is suitable for you or not. If this oil is not ideal for you, there are chances that you might have an itchy sensation with gruesome hives and rashes.
Coconut Oil Recipes
- Deep condition with coconut oil and jojoba oil.
- Make a mixture of coconut oil and jojoba oil and make sure that both the oils are in equal proportion.
- Now massage this on your scalp, try to cover your entire scalp
- After this cover your head with a warm towel or you can also go for a shower cap
- Leave this mixture on your head for a minimum of 30 minutes; you can do other things while you have this mixture on your head.
- Wash off the mixture in half an hour with shampoo which has a superior cleansing property
- Do not use a conditioner if you already have an oily scalp.
- You also have an option of substitution in place of using jojoba oil you can use 3-5 drops of rosemary essential oil with coconut and can perform the same steps the results will be somewhat similar.
- Coconut oil and lemon juice.
- You can mix two tablespoons of coconut oil with one teaspoon of lemon juice
- Now carefully apply this mixture on your scalp. You can also use this mixture on your hair as well.
- After applying this mixture, massage it for a couple of minutes so that your skin can absorb the mixture in the body, leave the mixture on your head for at least 30 minutes.
- After your 30 minutes are over wash off the mixture with warm water, you should use a good shampoo to wash your hair so that your hair and scalp can get proper nourishment
[Read: Home Remedies for Dandruff]
Coconut oil for dandruff is an excellent product which people are using since centuries, we have built our trust in this product, and some of us don’t even know what good qualities this oil carries with itself and without even knowing we can easily trust it. When coconut oil fails, and it is beyond our reach to fix our dandruff problems we should ensure that we should not become health care experts instead visit a genuine healthcare expert so that he could be able to help us before it’s too late.
