If you’ve ever seen a bald person, or are bald yourself, you may have noticed a shiny, oily appearance to their or your scalp. This is caused by the build-up of sebum (natural oils secreted from your scalp). This sebum not only blocks pores, inhibiting hair follicles from growing hair, it also causes hair loss at the root, thanks to the DHT in it.
If you’re unfamiliar with DHT, DHT is testosterone that’d been converted to another form. Once testosterone is converted to DHT, the DHT gets to work signaling hair follicles to stop producing hair on our scalp.
DHT resides in our blood and reaches hair follicles internally, at the cellular level. But it’s also present exteriorly, on the surface of our scalp. It gets on the surface through excretion, via sweat and sebum. DHT does just as much damage to our hair follicles internally as it does externally.
Overtime, the sebum on our scalp builds upon itself, layer after layer, creating a type of plaque. This plaque is what causes the shininess on the scalp.
Once sebum has become plaque, it’s not as easy to remove and treat. While there are medications that can reduce DHT internally, there isn’t a medication for removing DHT externally. Thankfully, we’ve compiled a few helpful tips for you on how to reduce and remove this DHT-containing plaque taking up space on your scalp.

• Clean the scalp with salicylic acid – the salicylic acid deeply cleans the scalp, acting as a peel. You should not leave the acid on the scalp for more than 5-10 minutes. Rinse and clean thoroughly to remove all acid, dead skin cells, and oil residue. Peels can be done safely and effectively on the scalp once a month.
• Purchase a clarifying shampoo – clarifying shampoos are stronger than normal shampoos. They should be used about once a month in order to keep sebum build-up under control.
• Reduce use of conditioner – if conditioner tends to make your hair oily, only use it once or twice a week as needed. Additionally, only apply it to the middle and ends of your hair.
• Brush your hair daily – brushing or combing the hair from root to end helps evenly distribute your hair’s natural oils. This will prevent build-up at the root.
• Use baby powder or dry shampoo to eliminate oil at the roots – in between washes, apply a power based dry shampoo to absorb some of the oil.

If you think you may have hair loss caused by DHT, give us a call for a medical management consultation today.