Weird oily hair - started suddenly!

[Jen1181]

I have always had semi oily hair. More oily at the roots and dry ends. Just recently I have had a new problem. My hair is long (middle of my back) and the crown and underneath in the back are this weird greasy. It just started one day. I have not used anything new. Same things I always use. I have tried washing my hair in everything to get rid of it and nothing works. I used laundry soap, dish soap, tea tree oil shampoo, clarifying shampoos, vinegar, bakingsoda, lemon juice, and that just a few!! I even bought a new hair brush and pillows for my bed. I have switched everything I could think of. It almost feels like conditioner is left in my hair. So just in case I stopped using that. I have no idea whats going on, but it won't come out. I am not an unhealthy person. I shower everyday sometimes twice a day. I'm so frustrated!! I did notice that on a lot of these forums that several say they used Nice and Easy to color their hair. I use that too. I have used it for about two years now. Same color everytime. Could this have something to do with it??

[Xx_Zz]

I've got the same issue, except it seems a little bit worse... all of my hair is sticky, especially the under portions of it. It forms together in thick, hard columns that feel almost like someone used a whole bottle of styling wax on each one. To make it more confusing, I can't get them brushed through. A friend and I spent two hours trying to run a brush through my hair, and we couldn't get it to go. The columns of sticky nastiness cause all of my hair to form together into one giant, matted, nasty dreadlock (I have long, thick, curly hair).

The residue it leaves on my hands is extremely nasty, and takes forever just to get off my hands. What's really weird though is that if you "dig" into the center of each column with your fingernails, you get this weird brown stuff that's the same color and consistency as peanut butter. It has no smell, and I've not ever dyed my hair.

A friend of mine set me up with some weird herbal shampoo stuff, and it manages to get it all washed out. However, within 12 hours, it's back in full force!

Outside of shaving my head, I've got no clue how to get rid of this issue.

[Blah1832]

This too has happened to me intermittently since 2009 (right after coloring my hair with Nice and Easy, but not every time-only occasionally). I self treated with baking soda.. I'd put the soda all over the dry sticky hair the night before and combed it in really well, then washed it out in the morning, but also washed with a paste of water and baking soda.  That worked after a few days of the same routine.  

This most recent bout didn't respond to the baking soda.   I tried dish soap as someone suggested.   That didn't work for me.  Then I got to thinking... GOO GONE.   I read the package it said non-toxic so I gave that a try and I got wonderful results.  Soft sweet smelling hair after one use.  It did not irritate my scalp at all.  I left it on for maybe 5 minutes then just to be sure I washed with dish soap, to make sure I could get it all out.

[Shootinstar]

Everything I've read points to a hormonal imbalance.  I'm peri-menopausal, so I'll go with that theory.  I first had this problem last January, and my hair was totally normal until a couple weeks ago when it started again.  When I use the Listerine and Suave Clarifying shampoo, it clears it up.

[Shootinstar]

No, I've never used over the counter colors on my hair.  This first happened last January, and with the Listerine and Suave Clarifying shampoo it cleared right up, but here it is October and it's back.  

[zoologynerd]

The same thing has happened to me, thick grease in my hair only from the crown of my head, I noticed it on Wednesday after coming back from the swimming pool, didn't think much of it at first, just though maybe for the first time ever I had not washed out the shampoo properly, I have been using head and shoulders 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner.
Washed my hair again on the Thursday morning and if anything it felt like the grease was spreading. I then decided to rely on trusty Google and found this forum, after seeing that it could be the start of a fungus infection I decided to see my doctors, and got an appointment for that afternoon.
Doc says it is probably a slight fungus infection and has prescribed Nizoral 2% shampoo, the active ingredient is Ketoconazole which is an anti fungal agent, side point is that it also helps thicken hair. Doc has said to wash my hair everyday with the stuff for the first week and then gradually less after that. Will let you know how it goes but I might be too busy washing my hair :p of yeh I'm 21, female, have never worn fake nails, and from the UK.

[WeesyG]

TRY BABY SHAMPOO!!!!!!

Same problem BUT NOT on the crown.  My greasy/waxy patches appear either side of behind my ears, sometimes only one side, but sometimes both :- (((  Started in 2010.

Before thinking of looking on the internet for answers I thought I’d try some pure tea tree oil as this had helped previous skin complaints… however, all it did was strip my hair of its natural oils and therefore increased the sebum production leaving my hair greasier than ever!!!

After suffering intermittently for nearly 3 years from this extremely frustrating complaint I found myself last night looking for a solution and I came across this discussion.  I read it all (some skim read) and seeing as I’d already tried the tea tree oil I therefore ignored the suggestions of using bar/dish soap, way too harsh.  I wasn’t adverse to using vinegar or baking soda or possibly even the brown bottle Listerine BUT I knew I had a bottle of Johnson’s baby shampoo in my cupboard as I use it to clean my make-up brushes.  So, today, this morning I gave it a go and skeptically I thought I’d still have at least a somewhat waxy patch, but no, it was all gone :- ))))))  It didn’t lather up that great (like most other shampoos) whilst in the shower, but it did rinse out great.  Usually when I shampoo my hair starts to get tuggy and straw-like when it comes to the rinsing stage and I prefer not to use conditioners as I have greasy fine hair in the first place!  Now, with the baby shampoo, I think I can cope with the lack of lather for the outcome of once again beautifully shiny, grease-patch free hair.  It blow dried better too, much more softer.

I think that this condition of ours is not so much a condition (medically) but more of a complaint, which I personally think is down to today’s chemical shampoo ingredients… I bet they didn’t suffer from this in the olden days.