Nizoral Anti-Dandruff Treatment Shampoo Does Not Require a Prescription

Dandruff is a condition of the scalp where the skin cells are shed in large numbers in small flakes. It is accompanied by inflammation and is often itchy. It is often a source of embarrassment especially when the flakes accumulate on the shoulders. Some flaking of dead skin is normal and in healthy individuals is barely noticeable. Dandruff is recognised as excessive flaking indicative of an underlying problem.

Sometimes dandruff can be caused by an irritation to chemicals found in shampoos. Ironically even anti-dandruff shampoos may be the cause of chemical irritation based dandruff, although this is a rare occurrence. Various fungi in the Malassezia family have been implicated in the creation of dandruff. These fungi like to feed on the oils produced on the scalp leading to inflammation and the rapid renewal of the skin cells. As the skin cells build up they flake off and new cell growth replaces the old.

Occasionally larger scaling is found and this is often caused by the skin condition , psoriasis. Anti-fungal treatment is not effective in psoriatic dandruff. The medical name is seborrhoeic dermatitis which translated means inflamed skin (dermatitis) associated with scalp oil(sebum). Treatment focuses on reducing the fungi that feed on the sebum. Killing the fungi reduces the inflammation and cell turnover decreases as the scalp returns to health.

In psoriatic dandruff shampoos and creams may be applied to the scalp. Often these contain coal tar and sulphur as anti-inflammatories and antiseptics while salicylic acid may also be employed to reduce scaling. Most commonly the first line of treatment is ketoconazole shampoo 2% used twice a week to kill the fungi or yeast associated with dandruff. Nizoral brand of ketoconazole shampoo is the most popular brand although there are some generic versions in the market place.

Click here for more information on Nizoral Shampoo 2%