Scalp acne can be super annoying and painful for those unlucky people who’ve got them. I know. And trust me when I say “I know” cause I used to be one of those unfortunate people. I have spent a lot of effort and money trying to get rid of these pimples in the past.

Even though it took me quite a while to find out the suitable cure for this, I can now tell you that I have successfully said goodbye to these stubborn spots. So, if you want to know my secret on dealing with them, sit back, grab a pen, and some sticky notes. You are about to find out now.

Read more: 6 Common Hair Problems In Winter And How To Deal With Them

So, without any further rambling from me, let’s get straight into the matter.

When I started having scalp acne

I started having scalp acne around July 2 years ago. At first, I found one painful spot on my scalp when I was washing my hair. At that time, I just ignored it, thinking it will disappear on itself after a few days. However, things didn’t go as I had expected.

One week later, I felt another spot lurking in the roots of my hair when I ran my fingers through it. A few weeks after that, the condition got worse, and I had probably my worst break out right on the crown of my head.

And at that point, I was super frustrated at those acnes. They were swollen and painful to the touch. Even though they weren’t too conspicuous, I still had insecurity whenever someone came close to my hair.

It got to the point when I couldn’t take it anymore, so I decided to seek treatments to get rid of them.

My first try with treating scalp acne

I thought maybe asking for advice from someone with professional experience in the field would be a reasonable idea. So, I headed to a local dermatologist to find some help. After inspecting my scalp for a while, he told me that I got scalp acne and prescribed me with Nizoral Shampoo.

He told me that my condition wasn’t particularly severe so I needed no oral medicine and topical treatment should be enough to put an end to it. According to this dermatologist, my symptoms should start budging after a week of application.

Well, that was easy. Or so I thought until three weeks later.

After that visit to the clinic, I immediately swapped out my regular shampoo with this Nizoral Shampoo. The liquid has a pinkish-red color and a mild soapy scent to it. I followed the instruction and washed my hair every two days with this product.

However, not a thing changed for three weeks after my first try with it. Then a month. Still nothing. I felt so desperate because even with a prescription from a doctor, I wasn’t able to make my irritating condition go away.

My second try with treating scalp acne

Still, I didn’t want to admit defeat just yet so I decided to be my doctor and find the cure myself. After doing some online research and going from pages to pages, I had seen something quite interesting.

There are two leading causes of scalp acne, which are fungus and bacteria. The symptoms of these are so similar that sometimes, even a doctor can be misled by their appearance. And I thought that this could be the case with me.

What I have tried

The Nizoral Shampoo has 2% Ketoconazole in it. And from what I had found, Ketoconazole is a potent antifungal drug. In my case, it was due to lower the concentration of yeast on my scalp, which was assumed by the dermatologist to be the cause of my problem.

Well, if I didn’t have much luck with killing fungus on my head, then bacteria should be the main culprit here. The thing with bacteria is that when you have pores clogged with excessive sebum, it would thrive in that environment and cause you to have a swollen spot.

So, I went to the drugstore and purchased products treat comedogenic pimples. My shopping list included Tea Tree Oil by The Body Shop, Zapzyt 10% Benzoyl Peroxide Acne Treatment Gel and you may think that this is ridiculous, but Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar as well.

The first two ones contain chemical compounds that are capable of killing bacterias on your skin. Both tea tree oil and benzoyl peroxide are potent enemies of acne-causing bacterias, so those were obvious choices for me.

Apple cider vinegar may seem a little weird to put on your scalp but trust me, that thing is amazing. Vinegar has a low pH environment, plus acetic, citric, lactic and succinic acid, all of which inhibited the growth of bacterias on our skin.

I diluted the vinegar with water then sprayed it on my hair, waited for about 5 minutes then rinsed off with shampoo to wash off the smell. The other 2 I used as leave-on masks every other night before going to sleep.

The result

This time, I was successful in getting rid of all these annoying pimples on my head. I must say that this was one of my proudest achievements ever and it still is. It took me a good 2-month period to return to the previous healthy state but better late than never, right?

Although this did work out very well for me, I think that if you want to try out, you only need 2 out of these three products to get the job done. I must say that I had gone a little overboard, but at that point, I was so desperate that I wanted to make things go as fast as possible.

The bottom line

I hope that my little story with scalp acne will help you in the process of treating yours. Still, our body is different, and I can not guarantee a 100% success rate for you even if you do follow every step of my routine. You need to listen to your body and find out what is best for you

Make sure to stay tuned for more upcoming articles on hair and beauty. Don’t forget to check out Layla Hair’s products for the best quality hair accessories at the best price.