I have had a severly itchy scalp for over a month now. I have tried just about everything short of professional help. When you look at my scalp there are little black dots (looks like someone sprinkled pepper on me) if that helps. I wash my hair everyday and they are there. Is there anyone who has experienced this? Is there anything anyone can suggest on how to cure this problem?

When you say it looks like pepper, are the spots actually on your skin like acne or loose in your hair?

If you have "innie" and "outie" cats/dogs, have neighbors pets visit your yard, or if you are outdoors a lot you may have come in contact with fleas. And please don't be offended, I don't mean this as an insult, but your description sounds so much like a possibility of fleas.

Fleas leave little black flecks behind that are gritty feeling and can look like pepper. And boy does your skin itch. This can be recently hatched larvae, and/or waste the fleas leave behind. I know, gross right?

I hope you get to the bottom of it and find relief soon.

Have you tried a sulfate-free shampoo? Paves makes some great stuff called No Sulfates Allowed. There is a conditioner with it called Milk Therapy. I think I got it at a drug store like Walgreens.

I also do not intend for this to be taken as an insult or offensively, and many people contract this with good hair cleaning habits regardless. But you may have lice.

Providing it's not lice, fleas etc, then try mixing a little vinegar and water and after you have shampood, conditioned etc, use the vinegar and water solution as a final rinse. During certain times of the year i sometimes get an itchy scalp and it's not dandruff. After using the vinegar and water solution i've gotten wonderful relief and when i use it i often will use it twice per week. You can use any type of vinegar. I'm not sure exactly why the vinegar sooths the scalp, maybe it balances the PH level.

Once when I spent the night w/ my friend who had dogs, my head started itching and did the same thing. So I used dog shampoo and it got rid of them.

i hate to say it but you might have lice, it happened to me a while back and sometimes they can leave black things behind.. i got them in new mexico from a hotel. gross right.. or...you may just have dry scalp. there's shampoo for that from neutrogena (i think?????) go to wal mart and they have it

Thank you all so much for your replys and please do not worry - I did not take offense to any of your comments. My hairdresser told me that it wasn't lice a few weeks back but I still have not found any relief. I have been using a dandruff shampoo (since she told me it was severe dandruff) but it doesn't seem to be helping. There are a ton of little clear blobs throught my hair about an inch - 2 inches up from the root - it looks almost like hairspray. I noticed some other posts with people who believe they have dandruff. I also have an oily scalp and this dandruff is more 3D and seems to stick to the hair like those described. I'm not sure if any of you found relief but if so I would greatly appreciate knowing what you did. I think I am going to see a doctor soon because nothing I seem to be doing helps. I guess I can only hope that it is something fixable and nothing like lice or fleas (yuck..). Again, thanks and please keep the advice coming!

Someone else suggested a sulfate free shampoo. That was what really helped me. My scalp was driving me insane with the itching, and my dr. suggested it might be the sulfates. Check the label on shampoos. Most all have a type of sulfate as the 2nd ingredient (just after water). The sulfates are used to help the sudsing action. I have found 2 brands that I really like that are sulfate free. I got bothe of them at a health foods store. I don't think I am allowed to mention name brands on this board <sigh>...one is in a green bottle and one is in a tan one.

Thanks that's an excellent idea. Did you also have what appeared to be buildup on your hair or was it just itchy all the time? Thanks for the help!

Well the verdict is in - I have head lice. I went to the clinic this morning. I just thought that I would let you all know in case someone out there has these symptoms. Now I just hope I can get rid of it for good. Thanks for your advice everyone!

Please use treatment to clear up the problem now and then later do it again to get rid of new hatched out lice. I forgot the time to do a second treatment, your doctor can tell you when to repeat.

Everyone in the family should do the treatment. Wash everything possible so you do not get reinfested. Not sure if exterminating your home helps or not.

Remember, we all can come in contact with those little critters and not know it until we start itching. The little critters will hop from one person to another if in close proximity.

My doctor gave me a treatment to do immediately and then again in 7 days. I've washed everything I can and vacuum every night since that is the best thing. The lice won't survive if they can't bite you and will die between 24 and 48 hours if that's the case. My doctor also said it's not unusual that only 1 person in the house gets it and no one else seems to have it. In any case, I am glad to not be itching anymore. Now it's just the emotional part of realizing I was infected with lice - yuck! It's gross to think about. Thanks for your comments and if anyone has any other tips please pass them along!

I am wondering if you color your hair and your rinseing it out good or maybe some kind of medication that is causing this problem. Or it could be scabs from scratching. Maybe the shampoo you are using. Lets us know. Hope this helps

If you have other people in your household- treat their heads anyway- just to be sure, then soak all of your hairbrushes in extremely hot water. Seal up any stuffed animals or things that can not be washed in plastic bags for 2 weeks- that is the incubation period for the eggs- 2 weeks. You have to repeat the cleaning process again upon your second treatment or you will get them back. I went through this with my daughter- and even though no one else presented the symptoms of having them, we were advised to treat our heads anyway. I ended up using bug bombs in my house to get rid of them- then washing everything I could and vaccuuming like crazy. They are extemely difficult to get rid of- much luck to you on this!!!!
My doctor gave me a treatment to do immediately and then again in 7 days. I've washed everything I can and vacuum every night since that is the best thing. The lice won't survive if they can't bite you and will die between 24 and 48 hours if that's the case. My doctor also said it's not unusual that only 1 person in the house gets it and no one else seems to have it. In any case, I am glad to not be itching anymore. Now it's just the emotional part of realizing I was infected with lice - yuck! It's gross to think about. Thanks for your comments and if anyone has any other tips please pass them along!

You can rinse your hair with Listerine and it works very well! After you finish washing your hair, pour some Listerine over your head and let it sit in your scalp for a minute or 2. Then rinse it out with water. I do this during the winter time when my scalp is an itchy mess and it works miracles! It also has a very cool tingling feeling.