How Long Does it Take for Dandruff to Go Away?

For people who suffer from dandruff, those little white flakes can cause a ton of embarrassment. While there are many treatment options available, from home remedies to medicated shampoos, there is no one answer to the question, "How long does it take for dandruff to go away?" Depending on the cause and severity of the problem, dandruff can take anywhere from a few days to a few months to clear up completely.

Underlying Causes of Dandruff

According to Surviving Hair Loss, almost half of us experience dry, flaky scalp. There are many causes of dandruff, and figuring out what's causing yours is the first step in getting dandruff to go away for good.

Medical News Today says that dandruff is not caused by poor hygiene, though not brushing your hair enough may cause a buildup of dead skin cells on your scalp. Other causes include dry skin, poor diet and stress. Some illnesses like HIV and Parkinson's disease also carry dandruff as a side effect. If your skin isn't dry and your dandruff feels oily, it might be caused by yeast, fungus or some other non-serious skin condition like eczema.

Home Remedies

Once you figure out what's going on with your scalp, you can choose the most appropriate way to treat it. Get Rid of Things has suggestions for several easy home remedies. For dandruff caused by an excessively dry scalp, you can massage moisturizing lotion or honey directly onto your scalp before washing your hair. For an oily scalp, you can massage apple cider vinegar or tea tree oil into it.

Because scalp oiliness and dandruff can occur because of conditioner and product build-up, consider going au natural for a few days or change your styling routine every so often to give your hair a break. Sometimes it only takes as long as a good couple of shampoos to get rid of dandruff.

Dandruff Shampoos

While home remedies are great for being cheap and natural, a severe dandruff problem that persists past the home-remedy stage may require a medicated shampoo. Depending on the brand, a dandruff shampoo will contain zinc pyrithione (ZPT), salicylic acid, selenium sulfide or coal tar. The advantage to having so many types of ingredients available is that if one particular brand doesn't get rid of your dandruff, you can always switch to one with another active ingredient.

Family Doctor advises using a dandruff shampoo every day only until your dandruff goes away, and then only using it two to three times a week between regular shampoos.