A Meditation on my Experiences with Sticky Hair since the 1970s

Basically a meditation on the kinds of hair/scalp problems revealed and discussed on this site...

Waxy Disco Hair

This reminds me of what happened to my hair and scalp back in the 1970s, when people used waxy conditioners on their hair to make it lay flat. Wella Balsam was a prime example of this. It would build up on the hair and make your scalp (at least mine) feel terrible. All the Faberge-brand products, and the Herbal Essence products back then, were deadly for this. And, except for the "primitive" old-fashioned creme rinses, which were still around then, nearly all drugstore conditioners had a waxy stuff that coated the hair shaft. You could skim it off your scalp with your fingernail after your hair dried. I learned to avoid just about any conditioner at all. Just kept my hair fairly short...

Protein Shampoos for Puffy Hair

Then, again back in the 1970s, there was a craze for protein-enhanced shampoos to thicken the hair. I found out that I couldn't use anything with "keratin" as an ingredient---it is/was made from chickens (their feathers? Skin? Bones? I'm not sure), but I am allergic to chicken feathers, and so that explained the itching, the rashiness, the pimpling that I realized consistently occurred, with a day, with any of the keratin-enhanced shampoos or conditioners. It was an instant pore clogger on my scalp. So, learned to leave them alone.

I learned Panthenol was a problem too. Clogged scalp...

Modern Times

Now, we come to 2015, and the latest wrinkle in the "why is my hair looking like crap all of a sudden" problem. It's late summer and I'm noticing that the water in my toilet is turning pink, which only happens this time of year, and I find it's attributable to some kind of seasonal buildup of some kind of (otherwise) relatively harmless bacteria. The bacteria overgrowth is what makes the water pinkish, and leaves a pink residue. I'm going to the store and getting some bleach or SOMETHING tomorrow...

Well, back to the hair problem...I figure, as of right now, the water thing is part of the answer as to why my hair isn't getting as clean as it was a couple of weeks ago, and why it's getting ropey and stiff after a couple of days, or just looks limp instead of curly and lively (which is its basic nature, especially in warm, humid weather). Somehow, the hotter conditions of late have been affecting the water supply, and it's coming out on my hair (and skin and dishes)!

I've also been using Head & Shoulders shampoo lately and possibly other P&G products. No good, apparently. I'm suspicious of what happens with P&G stuff now...

So anyway, it's back to the Nizoral, is it? I try not to use any one medicated shampoo for too long, because it tends to create resistance in the fungus to which we eczema sufferers are prone---but I don't know what else to use. I mean, the Nizoral (active ingredient: Ketoconazole) works so very well for me. The T-Sal shampoo is another good one, but I hate the smell of salicylic acid. And of course any kind of Coal-Tar shampoo helps, such as T-Gel, but it a) dries out the hair and b) is not the safest stuff to use continuously on your scalp. (Coal tar is a known carcinogen, but in small doses is safe and useful.)

Well, before yours truly goes back to her Nizoral, I'm going to try the dish detergent thing and see if it works. I also have cider vinegar to use as a rinse.

I really think it's a combination of the water and the particular brand of shampoo/conditioner. I don't use a separate conditioner, but the type of shampoo I am using (the H&S) "includes" conditioner, and that must be the "stickiness" imbuing agent, compounded by the seasonal change in the water.

Thanks for all the info here.
Good luck, all.