I know it is well over two weeks if not three and I should be writing week three and four updates already. This is what happens when you have a full time job besides blogging, you run a small business, you are a mother, wife and final year university student. Busy. Better late than never right so here it is. You will notice from the Week 1 Update, that my hair is in mini twists. It it a protective style of choice for me and the main reason why I like the mini twists is because they are easy to do and undo. I washed my twists twice this week because my scalp was itching so much and I just had to. You know when you just can’t scratch any more without bleeding? Yeah that is what it felt like. I am not really sure if my dandruff problem is really just dandruff or psoriasis. I know I have a problem with yeast overgrowth which I try to control by avoiding sugary stuff and processed starches. All along, I have always believed that is what causes my flaky itchy scalp. But somehow, the dandruff remedies I use only seem to work for a few weeks or months and I am back to square one. Or is it because my scalp is hyper sensitive and gets easily irritated? I made a slight change to my scalp treatment and my scalp was itching non stop. I could not help but scratch and then it became so sore making me turn to washing my hair to get some relief. I think it is time to get a proper diagnosis.
My week 2 hair. back/left side
Changes I tried to make
I have been using garlic and coconut oil on my scalp as a pre-poo treatment for the past three months, and it worked wonders. However, I tried switching the coconut oil with castor oil which also helps with clearing scalp issues and my scalp was itching so much I regretted doing it. The other thing I did was wash my hair with some sulphate free shampoo I got from the Healthy Hair Indaba. I will not mention the shampoo brand here because I am not sure if that is what caused the itch or the castor oil or both. I am starting a 90 day winter castor oil hair challenge and I will soon find out if it is the castor oil my scalp does not like. I will only use this particular shampoo again after the challenge so that I can be clear on what my hair does not like. I have since washed my hair again using African Black Soap and it is some what bearable again. I think my scalp can’t do without the African Black soap. I love that stuff.
back/right side view
Taking Care of my twists.
- I rub a bit of coconut oil on my scalp about twice a week just to help with flacking and dry scalp
- Spritz it with my spritzer everyday and seal the moisture in about every two to three days when I take my updo styles down
- Kept my hair in updo’s even in twists to minimise the wear and tear on clothes which may cause split ends
- wash my hair every time I needed to. This meant once or twice a week.
- I wear a satin bonnet to sleep (Oh I love my pink bonnet)
- Rub some castor oil around my edges once every two days (and they are growing in quite well)
The things I need to improve on
- More water. I need to drink more water.
- Manage stress much better.
- Exercise more for circulation and help with stress relief.
So I am hanging in there and praying all goes well with my scalp issues. I will research more on psoriasis though and check if that is what I need to be looking at because with most dandruff treatments, they work but only for a few months at most and the situation resurfaces and most of the times more aggressive than before. I will try and alternate my scalp treatments with other oil treatments and see how my scalp responds to that. I read somewhere that even for dandruff, switching dandruff shampoo makes them work better because the same shampoo becomes less effective when used over a long time. The store bought shampoos have never worked on my scalp anyway so my best bet is the natural remedies for dandruff or psoriasis which I have seen to alleviate the situation. So will be doing other scalp treatments as well in the future so that when I come back to my garlic and coconut oil fix, it is as effective as when I first used it. A reader of this blog once recommended an oil mix that I will be trying very soon. Thanks hey.
Right side view
I plan to take out the mini twists soon and have Havana twists in with extensions installed but will see how it goes. I am not a huge fan of hair extensions and prefer using my own hair but dealing with different lengths is quite a challenge. I thought dealing with different textures when transitioning was bad but this is proving to be just as bad because making my edges blend in with the rest of my hair to give me neater edges seems to demand a lot of brushing and product which I am trying to avoid in order to give my edges a chance to flourish. So these twists will only be in for two weeks and not the planned four weeks.
That being said, I will try and write the week three update soon. Enjoy the rest of your week.
Cheers
