Dandruff
Dandruff is white or yellowish flakes of dead skin shed from the scalp, often with itching. It is very common, not catching and not dangerous, but it tends to come and go for years — worse in cold, dry weather and at stressful times.
- Dandruff probably affects close to half of all people
- It usually starts in young adulthood and is more common in men
- It is not contagious and not harmful
- It is often worse in cold, dry weather and at times of stress
Source: StatPearls — Tucker, Syed & Masood, Seborrheic Dermatitis (2024); Mayo Clinic
What is Dandruff?
The skin of the scalp renews itself all the time. Old cells normally shed in pieces too small to see. In dandruff they come off in visible white or yellowish flakes, and the scalp often itches.
Doctors see dandruff as the mild, non-inflamed end of a skin condition called seborrheic dermatitis. A yeast called Malassezia lives on everyone's scalp; in some people the skin reacts to it and to the oils on its surface. Dry skin, hair products, psoriasis or eczema can look the same, which is why flaking that does not settle is worth showing to a doctor.
What are the symptoms?
- White or yellowish flakes on the scalp, hair, eyebrows or shoulders
- An itchy scalp
- Greasy or dry scaly patches, sometimes with mild redness
- Flaking that gets worse in winter or under stress
- In babies, a scaly, crusty scalp (cradle cap)
What causes it, and who is more likely to get it?
The skin of the scalp
- Oily or irritated skin
- Dry skin
- A reaction to Malassezia, a yeast that normally lives on the scalp
- Contact with hair dyes or hair products
Things that make it worse
- Stress and tiredness
- Cold, dry weather
How is it found?
Dandruff is recognised by looking at the scalp. Tests are needed only when the picture is unclear or the flaking does not respond to ordinary care.
Scalp and skin examination
The doctor looks at the flakes, where they are, and whether the eyebrows, face, ears or chest are affected too.
Skin scraping or biopsy
Rarely, a little skin is checked to tell dandruff apart from psoriasis or a fungal infection.
Thyroid test (TSH)
When dandruff comes with hair falling, hard constipation and tiredness, a blood test for a slow thyroid is worth asking your doctor about.
A neurotherapist asks about the bowel before the scalp — shown a chart of stool forms, you point to yours. She presses Liv° and Mu° one after the other, compares the ring fingers, and asks about asthma, heart disease, bamboo spine, heel spur and blood pressure, because these decide which points may be given.
How Neurotherapy sees Dandruff
In LMNT, dandruff is not read as a scalp problem alone. Guruji's teaching places it on the acid side, among the signs of a body short of water — which shows up on the organs that get rid of things: the bowel, the nose, the skin and the hair.
The dry-side chain, as Neurotherapy reads it
- Watertoo little in the body and the blood
- Acid sideacid rises in the blood; pain is found at Mu°
- Bowelstools turn hard and the bowel does not clear daily
- Skindries and scales
- Scalp and hairdandruff, hair falling or greying early
So the same person often has hard constipation, piles, a blocked nose or dry skin as well. LMNT teaching says: do not treat the one member of this family — look for the constipation behind it, and the water pot behind that. The thyroid is part of the picture too: together with the sex hormones and the gall bladder it looks after the skin, and a slow thyroid slows the bowel.
If there is no pain in Mu°, then Acid treatment is not to be given!
Neurotherapy treatment for Dandruff, step by step
Examine first
The therapist presses Liv° and Mu° one after the other and grades each, compares the ring fingers, asks for your stool form, and asks about asthma, heart disease, bamboo spine, spur and blood pressure.
The gate: no Mu° pain, no ATF
The Acid Treatment Formula is given only when Mu° is strongly painful and Liv° hurts little or not at all — a finding made by hand on the day.
The Acid Treatment Formula
Usually the Adr form. If an itch or rash has come up recently, or there are boils, an infection or an injury, the ending changes to Thymus + Chest — but not in diabetes.
(4) Thrd for skin and hair
Given to raise metabolism through the thyroid hormones — named in LMNT for dandruff, scaling and hair falling at a young age.
Water and the bowel
Enough water every day, and the constipation behind the dandruff looked after — the root of this family of complaints.
Points and formulas used
ATF, form (a)
The Acid Treatment Formula — helps the body lower its acid side; given only when Mu° is strongly painful.
Works through
Open →Never do this
- ATF is never given without strong pain at Mu°, checked by hand on the day — whatever was given yesterday. ATF, form (a)
- (4) Thrd is not given in bamboo spine, spur or other extra bone growth; not in asthma, where it increases the cough; and not to heart patients. (4) Thrd
- The (6) Adr at the end of ATF is not given in high blood pressure, septicaemia, HIV or cancer. Some diabetic patients do not feel well after it — the therapist asks at the next visit. (6) Adr
- See a doctor if the patches ooze, crust, become very red or painful, spread to the face or body, or if hair falls out in patches. Flaking that does not settle with regular care also needs a doctor's look.
- Cancer: if the person has cancer, (10) Pan, Thymus, Pit, Lu + Sh, Rt. Ov / Lt. Ov and (30) Medulla are never given — the therapist changes the plan.
- Keep taking the medicines your doctor prescribed. Neurotherapy works alongside your medical care, never instead of it.
Watch
Shows the Acid Treatment formula step by step: (8) Pan, (3) Gal, (5) Mu°, 3 Acid on the side of the right thigh, (4) Chest Only, and (6) Adr on the upper back, given without breaks. It is used to support the body's acid–alkali balance when acid is raised.
Note: the Acid Treatment formula is given only when the Mu° point is tender, and (6) Adr is not given in high BP, diabetes, cancer or HIV — the therapist checks first.
The Acid Treatment Formula, demonstrated step by step — for dandruff it is given only when Mu° is strongly painful.
From Ayurveda and the kitchen
Test yourself
What research says
- Strong evidence
Seborrheic dermatitis affects about 5% of people worldwide, while its mild, non-inflamed form — dandruff — probably affects closer to half. It comes from the interplay of the skin's normal yeast (Malassezia), the oils on the skin surface and a person's own sensitivity; the amount of oil or yeast alone does not seem to decide it.
No clinical trial of Neurotherapy in dandruff has been published yet. Improvements reported by neurotherapists are clinical observations.
For you
People who drink little water
Dry scalp, hard stools and dry skin often travel together. Drink enough water through the day — no other drink can take its place.
People with asthma or heart disease
Some points used for the skin and hair are not given to you. Always tell the therapist — even an inhaler in your pocket counts.
People whose hair is falling or greying early
With tiredness and hard constipation, this can go with a slow thyroid. Ask your doctor about a TSH test, and never stop a thyroid tablet on your own.
This page explains; it does not diagnose. Neurotherapy works alongside your medical care — keep taking the medicines your doctor prescribed, and see a doctor for any new or severe symptom.