Dandruff is not dry scalp
This is why so many people treat it for years without getting anywhere. Dandruff is usually driven by malassezia, a yeast that lives on everyone's scalp and that some people react to. It produces greasy, yellowish flakes and an itch. Genuine dry scalp gives small white dust-like flakes and tight skin, and it responds to moisture. Treating dandruff with a moisturising shampoo does nothing, and treating a dry scalp with a medicated one makes it worse.
The everyday option
CeraVe Anti-Dandruff Hydrating Shampoo (Rs 6,500) uses pyrithione zinc against the yeast, with ceramides and hyaluronic acid so the scalp does not end up raw. This is the one to use if you want something you can keep using rather than a short course.
When that is not enough
La Roche-Posay Kerium DS (Rs 6,900) pairs pyrithione zinc with salicylic acid, so it treats the yeast and lifts the scale already stuck to the scalp. Use it twice a week for two to four weeks, then stop and maintain with something gentler. It is a course, not a permanent shampoo, and staying on a strong medicated wash indefinitely tends to irritate.
The step people skip
Leave it on. A medicated shampoo needs two to three minutes of contact with the scalp to do anything, and most people rinse it straight out. That single change fixes more cases than switching brands does.
Conditioner during a course
The CeraVe Anti-Dandruff Conditioner (Rs 6,500) carries the same active, which matters because a rich ordinary conditioner applied to the scalp can undo the wash you just did. If you use a different conditioner, keep it on the lengths.
When to see a doctor instead
If the flaking is greasy and yellow and spreads to your eyebrows, the sides of your nose or your chest, that is seborrhoeic dermatitis rather than ordinary dandruff, and it is worth a dermatologist. Same if the scalp is painful, bleeding, or losing hair in patches.
Anti-Dandruff FAQs
How long before dandruff clears?
Two to four weeks of consistent use for most people. If nothing has changed after a month of using it properly, with two to three minutes of contact time, the problem is probably not ordinary dandruff.
Will dandruff come back if I stop?
Usually, yes. The yeast behind it lives on everyone's scalp, so treatment controls it rather than removing it. Most people settle into a maintenance wash once or twice a week.
Can I use an anti-dandruff shampoo every day?
The gentle pyrithione zinc ones, yes. The stronger course shampoos, no, they are meant for a few weeks and then a step down to maintenance.
Does oiling the scalp help dandruff?
It usually makes it worse. Malassezia feeds on oil, so adding oil to a flaking scalp and leaving it overnight gives it more of what it wants. Oil the lengths instead if you want to.