You have many choices of shampoo to try to ease your itchy scalp, but which should you choose? I’ll focus on two popular brands that I have tried.
One of the most well known brands is Head and Shoulders. If you have an itchy scalp or dandruff, you may well have tried Head and Shoulders. It is easy to find and comes in many varieties. There is, of course, the classic version, but if you don’t like that there are many others available such as the alternative scents of Citrus Breeze and Refresh. There are a confusing number of special versions for dry hair, oily hair, sensitive hair, and hair with extra volume.
Contrast Head and Shoulders with another brand, Neutrogena’s T/Gel. T/Gel has far less variety. There is the original version, Stubborn Itch, and Daily Control. T/Gel is not as easy to find in stores as Head and Shoulders. However, if you are computer savvy, and if you are reading this on your computer you are savvy enough, you can search on line and find either shampoo quite easily.
The active ingredient of Head and Shoulders is Pyrithione Zinc. The active ingredient of original T/Gel is coal tar, although The fresh scented Daily Control version has the same active ingredient as Head and Shoulders. Both T/Gel and Head and Shoulders indicate on their label that they should be used at least twice a week. I have used both more often then that, in fact, I generally use the same shampoo each day.
I have had a dry itchy scalp most of my life. Because of the convincing commercials on television and the fact that it was already in the house, I first tried Head and Shoulders. It worked great; my itching scalp was better and the dandruff soon faded away. Unfortunately, as time went by my problems re-appeared and the mild dandruff I had suffered appeared to be to be a far worse problem then before. I came to the conclusion that over the long run Head and Shoulders had worsened my dry scalp and my dandruff.
I drifted along trying one shampoo after another with no good result until I tried the original T/Gel. I didn’t particularly like the smell of it. Coal tar, after all, is not as pleasant to smell as Citrus Breeze. But with T/Gel my dandruff went away and has stayed away. I generally use it every day though occasionally, especially when traveling, I will use another non-dandruff shampoo. Unlike Head and Shoulders, continued usage has not had a detrimental effect.
I have not used the T/Gel Daily Control. It appears to have been created to sooth those consumers that prefer a pleasing scent and would be turned off by the less pleasing scent of original T/Gel. But the active ingredient is the same as Head and Shoulders and I would expect similar results.
Head and Shoulders is less expensive then T/Gel. I found Head and Shoulders for about 32 cents an ounce while the price for T/Gel varied from 77 cents an ounce to $1.55 per ounce.
I would recommend that you pay a little more and get the original T/Gel which I found to be most effective. Use a pleasant smelling conditioner afterward if you don’t care for the scent. In the long run you will be glad you did.
