Sticky / Oily / Greasy scalp?!?

[JerseyGirlNB]

I have an weird sticky substance in my hair that NOTHING will get rid of and it's extremely frustrating.  About a month ago i noticed after i got out of the shower and blow dried my hair that the hair at the crown of my head was very oily and sticky (but ONLY at the crown of my head). At first i thought i forgot to wash the conditioner out so the next night I scrubbed thoroughly, but once again the stickiness was still there.  Then i bought a few different brands of clarifying shampoo (thinking it was build-up) and still the same thing.  The oil is def coming from my scalp because at the same time that this happened I started breaking out with acne really bad.  I'm 27 years old and have not broken out this bad since puberty.  Very strange.  So i went to the extremes of trying baking soda, lemon juice, listerine, medicated shampoos, even dawn (for it's grease cutting abilities) and NOTHING gets this substance out of my hair.  It's driving me crazy to the point that i asked my dermatologist to put me on accutane to stop oil secretions.  Has anyone experienced this problem before, and if so, do you know of anything that will get my scalp back to normal.  PS - it has nothing to do with my diet, because i eat extremely healthy and always have.

[pastycrown25]

Hi Everyone!!! So I've tried pretty much everything suggested here but I find that once I go back to my normal shampoo (head & shoulders which I've used for about 15 years) my hair gets the greasy spot again.... with ONE application!!!

I can't keep doing all these things to keept the greasy spot away.. I'd like to know the cause?

I went to the dermatologist yesterday and she gave me prescription shampoo with Salicylic acid. This worked completely.. but she did say it's a strong shampoo. So far things that I have tried and HAVE worked are.


1) Neutrogena clarifying shampoo + Listerine. I used the regular green version.
2) Regular glycerin soap instead of shampoo
3) Any liquid soap. I used green palmolive
4) Medicated shampoo.



I'm still in the search of a daily shampoo. I'm going to try baby shampoo as I don't think I can find tea tree oil or tea tree oil shampoo here. Will report back.

[DANIGIRL865]

I HAVE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH MY HAIR UNTIL RECENTLY....SAME ISSUES AS LISTED BELOW EXCEPT I DONT HAVE ACNE AND DONT TAKE BIRTH CONTROL...I TRIED EVERYTHING SUGGESTED AND NOTHING WORKED....UNTIL I REMEMBERED A SHAMPOO CALLED NIAZIROLE IT IS SOLD OVER THE COUNTER (IT IS NOT FOR DANDRUFF) ALSO YOUR DOCTOR CAN PERSCRIBE IT FOR YOU ....I GOT THE PERSCRIPTION AND AFTER A WEEK AND A HALF OF USING IT EVERY OTHER DAY IT WAS GONE....YEAH!!!

[Bec2012]

I have to add, after reading this & other forums, that 2 of the times it has happened has been when I've used the conditioner from a nice n easy hair dye. Definitely won't be doing that again.

[Bec2012]

I've had this 3 times now, once as a teenager, once last year and again this year. It appears all of a sudden and it's always as I'm washing my hair.  The grease is different to that of unwashed hair, it's very thick and it's a struggle to get a brush through my hair. (My hair is also long, brown and rather thick) I tried the suggestions of vinegar, tea tree shampoo, mothwash etc and nothing worked, infact it made it worse and made my scalp tingle. I went to the doctor and she examined my scalp, she found nothing unusual. However, she did suggest using a shampoo for itchy, dry scalps - she went on to explain that the more I try to strip my hair of it's natural oils, the more it will try to produce. I used the T-Gel shampoo for itchy dry scalps and it made a difference straight away. 3 - 4 washes and the thick grease is gone. This may not work for everyone but it's certainly worth a try. Hope everyone sorts their hair out. Don't get upset about it - it's much more noticeable to you than other people.

[NovaD1982]

I found a simple remedy - please try this first!  *BABY SHAMPOO*
I am relieved to know I'm not the only one who has had this problem.  I normally have really healthy hair.  I started noticing an oily patch only on the top of my head in March and read about using clarifying shampoos like Jason's Tea Tree Oil and the Listerine method.  I was desperate and tried both.  The tea tree oil shampoo couldn't remove all the greasyness and it dried out the rest of my hair really badly with repeated use.  I found the Listerine method was also not helpful.  It dried out the rest of my hair and was really uncomfortable, almost a burning sensation on my scalp that couldn't be any good for the skin.
Finally when I wanted to cut my hair because the ends were getting so dried out, a hairstylist used a salon quality clarifying shampoo and suggested baby shampoo if the problem came back.  It came back last week, so I've been washing with baby shampoo and my hair is back to being healthy and normal.  Only use the baby shampoo when you have the greasy spot, because repeated use can also dry out your hair.

[cjd261]

After waiting four days, I tracked down the brown Listerine.  I used a little more than 2 capfuls on my dry hair, rubbed in in and let sit for about 15 minutes.   Washed it out in the shower, blow dried my hair, and voila!   Beautiful, stick-free, smooth hair.  THANK YOU to everyone who suggested this!  So much better.