Why do we only get dandruff on our scalp and not the rest of our bodies?
In: Biology
You do. Your skin is constantly shedding. The difference is, your head is flat and usually hair is dark. The flakes stay on the head and get trapped by the oils and gravity. And against the dark hair it’s very noticeable. Your arm flakes off but you just don’t see it.
We do, we flake constantly. You’ll be breathing in other peoples skin right now most probably.
Flakes on your scalp are caused by either a dry scalp or by a form of dermatitis that affects oily areas of the body. If your flakes are caused by dry skin, that same dry and flaky skin also occurs on the rest of your body.
Dandruff mostly shows up on our scalp because that area has a lot more oil glands compared to the rest of our body. These glands produce sebum, which, when mixed with dead skin cells, creates a perfect environment for a type of yeast called Malassezia to thrive. This yeast can cause the skin cells to shed more frequently, leading to those pesky flakes.
Imagine if dandruff popped up on our arms or legs – we’d be living in a constant snow globe! So, it’s really about the scalp having a unique combination of oils and microbes that you don’t get elsewhere on the body. Lucky us, right?
Most dandruff comes from using shampoo too frequently. Many mistake dandruff as the result of dirty hair/scalp. This is not always the case and can become a counter productive shame cycle. Person notices more dandruff, they shampoo more. This dries out your skin cells that need some oil for plasticity and just like anything else that dries out, becomes brittle and falls apart. The degreasing chemicals in most shampoo/soaps do a great job of bonding to and removing oil. The problem is they remove ALL the oil and the scalp dries out = dandruff.
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