Small or large exfoliating scales in the scalp are called dandruff. With a significant amount, they fall on clothes, causing disgust among others. There is an opinion that dandruff is the result of non-compliance with the rules of personal hygiene. However, in most cases, increased peeling of the skin is caused by the disease.
Varieties
The scales can be small and easily crumble. Layers may form that rise above the scalp and peel off when combing. Grayish-white flaking foci may occur, located not only on the scalp, but also passing to the skin of the face, neck and trunk.
Possible causes
Normally, the upper layer of the skin (epidermis) is systematically renewed. At the same time, the dying cells are exfoliated, which happens almost imperceptibly. To determine the condition of the scalp is simple: with light scratching, a small amount of scales remains under the nails. However, when exposed to adverse factors or the development of the disease, the number of dead cells may increase and form clusters. Based on the appearance of the scales, their size and localization, it is possible to roughly determine the causes of skin peeling.
Dandruff is not always a symptom of the disease. In some cases, it is caused by a negative effect on the skin: it is an incorrectly selected shampoo, a disturbed diet, sudden changes in ambient temperature.
Provoking factors can also be stress, direct exposure to sunlight, the use of aggressive means for perming and coloring hair. In these cases, careful care and exclusion of harmful factors normalize the condition of the skin, which contributes to the disappearance of dandruff.
Doctors consider dandruff a harbinger of seborrheic dermatitis, which can develop under the influence of a number of factors. With seborrheic dermatitis, the formation of dandruff is caused by pathological processes: disruption of the sebaceous glands, accelerated death of epidermal cells and the reproduction of microorganisms.
There is a large number of sebaceous glands in the scalp. A change in their function can lead to either insufficient or excessive production of sebum.
Fat deficiency is caused by an increase in the viscosity of the secretion of the sebaceous glands and the difficulty of its passage through the ducts of the gland.
At the same time, the scalp dries up, there is a feeling of tightness, itching, burning. The hair becomes dry and brittle, their tips split.
Even if you rarely wash your hair, dandruff does not disappear. These are characteristic signs of dry seborrhea. Lesions with increased peeling in greater numbers are located along the hairline. Scales can occur on eyebrows, eyelashes, in the beard and mustache area. The color of the scales varies from white to yellow. Seborrheic dermatitis worsens in winter, which is facilitated by significant fluctuations in air temperature and over-drying of the skin. With the progression of the disease, pink spots appear on the skin, covered with white scales.
With oily seborrhea, sebum production increases, and dead cells are glued together with fat to form conglomerates. Microscopic fungi that normally live on the scalp in small quantities multiply in these clusters. By consuming sebum components, mushrooms secrete substances that have an irritating effect on the skin, causing inflammation and peeling.
Heat and increased humidity also contribute to the reproduction of mushrooms. With active combing, crusts form on the damaged skin, under which pathogenic bacteria multiply.
Disruption of the sebaceous glands is facilitated by a change in the hormonal background in adolescence, during pregnancy or in postmenopause. Increased production of testosterone, which largely determines the work of the sebaceous glands, causes a greater spread of seborrhea in men. A decrease in the immune status is also accompanied by an increase in morbidity. It has been proven that in HIV-infected patients seborrhea occurs 4-10 times more often than in people with normal immunity. It is noted that seborrheic dermatitis is activated when the nervous system is affected. In patients with paralysis, Parkinson’s disease, this disease is characterized by extensive spread and difficult treatment.
Another possible cause of dandruff is psoriasis. Psoriasis is a systemic disease based on a violation of the immune status.
At the same time, white blood cells, which usually destroy foreign agents, begin to mistakenly attack their own tissues, causing inflammation.
Such a failure can occur after streptococcal infection, trauma, due to inflammatory bowel diseases and dysbiosis. Psoriasis usually appears at the age of 15-45 years, but it can also occur in very young children, starting from the age of 4 months.
It has been established that the early onset of the disease is accompanied by a more severe course and leads to damage not only to the skin, but also to joints, heart, blood vessels.
In mild forms of psoriasis, only the skin is affected, usually in open areas of the body and scalp. Clearly defined bright pink rashes are covered with whitish scales. Small foci of inflammation can merge, forming plaques, also covered with easily detectable scales. In summer, there are fewer rashes, and sometimes they disappear completely, but pigmentation remains in their place. In the cold season, with a decrease in immunity, stress, psoriasis symptoms may occur again.