Ted's ACV and H2O2 Cure
Hydrogen peroxide/apple cider vinegar might help in removing the source of dermatitis. Apply that first, wait for a couple of minutes, then rinse. This is then followed by a generous application tea tree oil to the entire scalp. Wipe of the excess, leave it overnight. Based on my own personal experience, one application does it. If it comes back in a couple of months, redo the above. Dandruff should go away in 2-3 days.
Recipe using Apple Cider Vinegar and Hydrogen Peroxide: Dilute them by 1:10: 1 part ACV, 1 part Hydrogen Peroxide with 10 parts water. Use like a shampoo and rinse after the shampoo is "finished" to make the cure for scalp infections even more potent.
More details:
Leave the mixed solution on scalp for about one minute before rinsing away in water. Repeat this again if the infection is severe enough. Avoid getting the solution in the eyes as it may cause stinging. You do not need large amounts of the concoction, only small amounts... just enough to get it to the scalp.
Again, it seems to work with remarkable consistency. For some reason, I found using shampoo as the cause of dandruff. I don't know what they put in. However, an easy way to test it is do apply it on your skin to see if you have a skin reaction, after applying the pure shampoo over the arms for a couple of hours.
If you want to permanently reduce the problems of shampoo caused dandruff, the addition of small amounts of sodium thiosulfate and tea tree oil and lavender oil to a non fragranced shampoo will solve most of the problems. I now make my own shampoo for my mother and sister due to brand name shampoo causing severe itchiness and dandruff. This formula seems to work very well and never had any problems. One application, strangely is all you need. Perhaps severe dandruff might need 2-3 applications.
If the problems persist use aloe vera oil and tea tree oil apply to scalp. This is done only once. Aloe vera oil will heal the scalp.
Take lots of vitamin C for a week. This will also help healing.
One of the causes of scalp problems is inability for body to absorb vitamin A. It's been my experience that people with scalp problems not drink or eat fresh carrot juice as often (usually never!) and this will help the body absorbed the needed vitamin A. Synthetic vitamin A, even natural ones they sell in supermarkets don't seem to work.
3/22/2005 UPDATE:
There is a lot of misunderstandings in the use of aloe vera in the use of severe dandruff. The ONLY aloe vera that I found useful in dandruff is ALOE VERA OIL. But aloe vera oil alone is not effective unless when mixed with tea tree oil AND/OR lavender. If you are desperate (seems you are) use pure tea tree oil and apply it throughout your head - soaked. Do this for three days in the row. If it doesn't work, then complain!
Another little known information is that I found many people who DON'T DRINK enough water (avoid count tea, coffee, coke, beer) have severe dandruff. Sometime ago, I told some colleague as a passing remark to drink 0.5 liter in the morning before breakfast, 0.5 liter of water before lunch, 0.5 liter of water before dinner, and 0.5 liter of water before sleep. (Water must be dechlorinated). What was so amazing was persistent skin peeling (which lasted years) and dandruff stopped within a week. Recently I had this problem myself - horrible facial skin peeling for months and cured myself after finding my urine conductivity exceeded 90,000 siemens (heathy levels is about 40,000). So excess blood salinity could possibily be another cause. Excess salinity causes cellular dehydration, which in turn causes skin scaling, in my case facial skin peeling, in your case possibly severe dandruff.
Avoid absolutely the use of all shampoos. Use only a very mild soap to shampoo your hair. Salts in shampoos contributes to dandruff - which again causes scalp dehydration. Follow this by putting borax to saturation to the water and wash your hair, then rinse. Borax have antifungal and antiparasitic properties.
You need not do frequent shampooing of hair. Just do enough. This is then followed by apple cider vinegar and small amounts of common drug store 3% hydrogen peroxide mixed to it(if you are that desperate). These severe dandruff are usually fungus, which is why the treatment is so detailed. Fungus is really difficult to get rid of, but it was not a problem down here in Bangkok.
The small amounts of 3% hydrogen peroxide can be added a bit to apple cider vinegar. Since this is used only externally, you won't have trouble finding the hydrogen peroxide. Just get the 3% hydrogen peroxide they use at drug stores.
Once your hair is all dried and everything, before going to sleep, apply pure tea tree oil. If not, add some 50/50 with aloe vera oil, if you find it too strong. However aloe vera oil need not be applied for everyday. You need to apply it for only once a month, if need be. Again, these procedures more or less cured my friend of a severe dandruff problems. The tea tree to effect a reduced visible dandruff, was effective after 1-3 applications (1-3 days). Actually, I was satisfied with just one application, and it was manageable after that. You need to follow this by a maintenance dose of this (usually just tea tree and some alo e vera oil would do it) once a month.
Apple cider vinegar is needed to remove scaling of dandruff, but for maintenance - monthly or weekly, just apple cider vinegar, tea tree and aloe oil might do. Aloe vera oil is used only once every 2 weeks or a month. You don't need to use it that often and it is always mixed with tea tree oil and sometimes in combination with lavender oil - in case tea tree were a bit too irritating.
If you are STILL having problems, consider taking internally a peroxide form of colloidal silver. The procedure is simple. Buy any colloidal silver, add one drop of 3% food grade hydrogen peroxide and take it 1-3 tablespoon/day. Again, this is not needed now, and I know you will have trouble finding them. We will discuss this later.
Again, if YOU ARE STILL HAVING problems, eat one large onion a day - in salads or sardines (mixed with lemon) And add this onion juice to shampoo your head. Dandruff is a sulfur deficiency and my grandmother used onions to cure dandruff. I used onions - amazing stuff - to cure my hypoglycemia conditions. Onions lowers (or suppresses) blood glucose helps with dandruff condition by allowing normalization of cellular metabolism, instead of cellular death, which causes dandruff.
I hope this helps! If not, send me another feedback. There are other methods that will work also, but I have so little information regarding your health (pH, salinity, etc.) that I am generalizing these treatments.
EC: *** Ted's Remedies Reader Feedback here. ***
London, England
04/14/2011
Any idea what strength the peroxide should be? I have used 3% which was what I could buy in the chemist, have done the treatment twice and it hasn't worked. Any advice would've welcomed. Thanks."
04/29/2011: K from Cairns, Australia replies: "We live in a very tropical climate and dandruff here for a lot of people is a problem. Im not sure if it has to do with the tropics or salt water or what. My partners dandruff was getting really out of control. We have black bed sheets and pillow casses so you could only imagine what those looked like in the morning. IT WAS BAD! He had used dandruff shampoo most of his life and that made it better but never got rid of it. I have been all about natural remedies for years. When I realized how bad the problem got I had to do something about it. My first thaughts were to use ACV (organic mother raw) and tea tree oil which are products that I always have on hand. I wasnt sure how exactly to execute this so I looked on line and got to this site. GREAT!
I diluted the ACV and used H202 as well. 1:10 of each. filled the rest of the botle up with clean filterd water. I also added a couple tblsp of tea tree oil and aloe vera oil to the mix. Shook up the btl and generously applied it to his dry scalp as I massaged the mixture in. He let it soak in for about 10 min then got into the shower and washed it out with organic tea tree soap (not regular shampoo ever! ) as he was showering he took a fine comb and combed as much dandruff off his scalp as he could. There were clups falling out! When he got out of the shower and dried his hair you could see a remarkable diference. There were no more dry patches on his scalp and no more flakes.
We then applied a good amount of teatree and aloe vera oil straight onto his scalp and he kept it in for the next 8 hrs. Before bed that night he showered and washed his head only with the organic teatree soap to get rid of the strong scent of the straight oils that we applied earlier. When we got up the next morning there was not even a single flake in our bed and his scalp was totally gorgeous! Now he keeps the mixture in the shower and if he feels the need to use it he will. That should keep it maintained. He will never use a regular shampoo again. Only herbal organic shampoos or organic soaps.
If anyone wants to get rid of dandruff please try this method. But you must realize that it is very very important to stop using all chemical un natural products. The more natural and organic you eat and live the better your body will maintain its natural ph levels and be able to start healing its self.
This method was effective for us because we eat very well and we dont use any chemicals. So if you are still having dandruff problems you must evaluate your whole lifestyle and get to the sources of your problems. Most things need to be fixed from the inside out. Vitamin A and clean unchlorinated water are a big key.
Indianapolis, In
08/06/2012
I tried this and it did work!
I have had problems with a flaky scalp on and off since I was little. It had been getting really bad recently, and in addition to the dandruff I think I had ringworm as well. Anti-fungal and anti-dandruff shampoos alleviated some of the itching but really didn't seem to eliminate the source of the itching, or stop the flaking.
I ended up making a stronger concentration of the ACV and H202 mix, more like a 1:1:1 ratio and added a few drops of tea tree oil. I let it sit for at least 10 minutes on my scalp before showering. I also used a sea salt soap instead of any kind of shampoo to clean with. I did this for a few nights in a row and my scalp looks better than it has looked in years.
Sacramento, Ca
12/29/2012
Please, be careful using the ACV and H202 remedy. My 21 year old niece used this remedy for dandruff on her beautiful, waist length hair and her hair fell out. It has been over a month and it is still falling out. The scalp was never pink or irritated looking and it still isn't noticeably damaged, but her hair is still falling out! She has noticeably thin hair now and it is somewhat patchy. I noticed some very fine baby hairs growing back, but the continued loss of her hair is alarming. She has been rubbing coconut oil into her scalp and taking it internally, but we are somewhat at a loss as to what we can do to help her.