What is dandruff?

Dandruff is a sloughing of the skin on the scalp that leads to white flakes on the head, neck, and shoulders.

What causes dandruff?

Dandruff is thought to be caused by a form of a skin condition called eczema, which causes increased shedding of normal scalp skin cells. Hormonal or seasonal changes may make dandruff worse.

What are the symptoms?

Common symptoms of dandruff include white, oily-looking flakes of dead skin in your hair and on your shoulders and an itchy, scaling scalp. Your scalp can be either excessively dry or oily.

Treatment

Home treatment is often effective in preventing and getting rid of the symptoms of dandruff.

Use an antidandruff shampoo. A variety of shampoos are available, containing different ingredients. Trying several will help you find out which antidandruff shampoo is most effective for you.
Shampoo daily to prevent your scalp from accumulating dead cells.
If an antidandruff shampoo helps stop dandruff for a while but the dandruff problem returns, rotate shampoos.