Home Remedies For Dandruff: Do They Work?

Dandruff is one of those irritating problems in more than one sense of the word. Those annoying white flakes that get everywhere and seem to materialize out of nowhere, as if they've been teleported from some cosmic dandruff store onto your scalp. Chances are that you've tried commercial shampoo for dandruff but not come out of the experiment any better. So are home dandruff remedies any better?

Much will depend on the type of dandruff you've got. Not all dandruff is created equal but the most common forms are dry dandruff and oily dandruff. It stands to reason that no remedy is going to cope well with both types so it's important to work out which variety of dandruff you have before deciding on a home remedy for it.

Lime remedy

This works best with oily dandruff. Wash your hair as normal and then as part of the last rinse, work in about a teaspoon of lime or lemon juice, ideally freshly squeezed but if that's not practical then off the shelf juice from the supermarket will have to take its place.

Fenugreek seeds

This is a fussier solution but many people say that it's been effective for them to relieve their dry dandruff. You'll certainly need to be organized to use this method as it involves soaking a couple tablespoons of fenugreek seeds overnight in water and then grinding them into a fine paste the following morning. Once you've done that, apply the paste and leave it in your hair for 30 minutes – maybe do this as soon as you wake up and leave it in until you've eaten your breakfast. Then wash out the solution using a natural, off the shelf, soap-nut solution instead of a regular shampoo.

Change your diet

Like many afflictions we suffer from, dandruff can be made worse by the food we eat. Changing your diet will often help with making your diet go away. The best way of doing this is to eat natural food rather than processed and keep as close as possible to the balanced diet that is recommended by doctors everywhere. It's also best to cut out or cut down the usual suspects – caffeine, coffee, alcohol, you know the list off by heart by now!

Watch your stress levels

My dandruff ebbs and flows according to how stressed I am. The more stress I'm under, the more of those nasty white flakes appear. If that's the case with you then it's worth investigating ways to cut down your stress levels. Whilst some stress is good, too much stress most definitely is not. Work out some kind of relaxation routine that works for you, whether that's going a local yoga class, taking a walk in the park, playing relaxing music in the background or taking up something like meditation. Whatever method works best for you, keep at it on a reasonably regular basis as it often takes our bodies time to adjust to the idea that our stress levels can actually come down.