QUESTION
I have dandruff in my eyebrows. What’s causing it and how can I get rid of it?
ANSWER
When you think of dandruff, you most likely have in mind the flaking skin on your scalp. But dandruff can occur anywhere you have hair, and that includes your eyebrows. While dandruff is not a serious concern in and of itself, it can be a chronic condition—and it can also be a symptom of other health issues.
WHAT CAUSES EYEBROW DANDRUFF?
Dandruff, whether on your scalp or your eyebrows, can range from a mild case of flaky shedding to a full-blown, greasy buildup of red, crusty, irritated skin. The most common cause of dandruff is dry skin, which can be caused or aggravated by lots of things, including cold weather, stress, harsh soaps and poor nutrition. But certain health conditions, such as seborrheic dermatitis, psoriasis,
malassezia (a yeast infection of the skin), and Parkinson’s disease can also cause dandruff.
WHAT TO DO
The first step in treating any kind of dandruff is proper hygiene. It may sound obvious, but be sure to include your eyebrows when you wash your face. The skin of your eyebrows, just like the skin everywhere else on your body, needs regular cleansing.
Suds up: A dab of
dandruff shampoo lathered into your eyebrows twice a week or whenever you shampoo can be effective. If that doesn’t help, or doesn’t help enough, I often recommend that my patients try an over-the-counter 0.5% hydrocortisone cream. Apply it to your eyebrows after washing your face (and eyebrows!) with your regular facial cleanser once or twice daily for a couple of days to help reduce redness, scaling and itching. Just be careful not to get it in your eyes.
Exfoliate: Exfoliating your eyebrows and surrounding skin can also help get rid of flakes. An easy way to do that is to mix a pinch of sugar into your regular facial cleanser and gently massage it into your eyebrows, then rinse thoroughly. This doesn’t leave a residue and loosens the dead skin cells so they can be rinsed away.
Check your makeup: If you wear makeup–especially eyebrow makeup–your flaking eyebrows may actually be an allergic reaction to one or more of your products. Try switching to a different brand, such as one that is hypoallergenic.
DON’T FORGET NUTRITION
Smooth,
glowing skin is one more good reason to follow a healthy diet. Eliminate added sugar and refined carbs—or at least cut back on them.
Especially good for skin: Eggs, yogurt and carrots (good sources of biotin and B vitamins)…salmon, walnuts and olive oil (high in omega-3 fatty acids). I also recommend to my patients the supplement Nutrafol, which contains vitamins A, C and D as well as zinc, kelp, keratin and other ingredients that nourish the hair and skin.
WHEN DANDRUFF IS SOMETHING ELSE
Seborrheic dermatitis is an inflammatory skin condition that produces red, itchy skin and larger, more oily flakes than with regular dandruff. It affects oily areas of the face and trunk, including the eyebrows. Seborrheic dermatitis also responds well to regular cleansing and exfoliating. Dandruff shampoos that contain
pyrithione zinc, such as Dove Dermacare Scalp Anti-Dandruff Shampoo, are especially helpful because they help hydrate the skin and hair as well as reducing flaking and itching.
Psoriasis is another inflammatory skin condition that can affect the eyebrows. In addition to redness, itching and flakes, psoriasis is characterized by thick patches of silvery scales. Psoriasis is usually treated with topical steroids and immune-suppressing medications, but
natural therapies can also help. Malassezia yeast is a normally occurring component of human skin flora—but it can also cause certain skin conditions, including dandruff. Since the yeast is an integral part of healthy skin, treatments recommended by your doctor, if necessary, will aim to control rather than eradicate it. Skin changes, such as oiliness, flaking and inflammation, are common symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. And dandruff can be among the skin problems that afflict people with HIV/AIDS. To make sure you get the best treatment, including for an underlying medical condition, check with your doctor to find what’s really causing your flaking eyebrows.
Research has uncovered a surprising new risk factor for diabetes: rising outdoor temperatures from climate change.
Background: When the body is exposed to colder temperatures, insulin sensitivity (the ability to make efficient use of insulin) improves. That’s a good thing—a decline in insulin sensitivity, aka insulin resistance, is a major cause of type 2 diabetes. So researchers decided to explore whether there is a statistically strong connection between rising outdoor temperatures and the incidence of type 2 diabetes.
Study: Dutch researchers gathered data on average temperatures for each US state between 1996 and 2009 as well as the incidence of obesity (a major cause of increasingly deadly diabetes) and diabetes. Then they factored out the role of obesity and analyzed the relationship between average temperatures and new cases of diabetes.
Results: While diabetes incidence has been rising in general, it rose more dramatically in years that were hotter. Based on these spikes, the researchers calculated that if average annual temperatures in the US were to rise by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (one degree Celsius), there would be an additional 100,000 new cases of diabetes each year. (In the next few decades, according to scientists, average temperatures are expected to rise in the US between two and four degrees Fahrenheit.)
While this kind of observational study can’t show cause and effect, the researchers point to metabolic research that adds credence to the connection. One emerging research area has to do with the different types of fat our bodies contain. Most body fat is white fat. It releases hormones and triggers other interactions that can result in insulin resistance, the major contributor to type 2 diabetes. But the body has a small amount of another kind of fat, too—brown fat. This kind of fat actually generates internal heat—it’s switched on in our bodies when external temperatures drop. So the more time our bodies are exposed to cooler temperatures, the more brown fat we create. When brown fat is switched on, it helps burn white fat.
The Bottom Line: While the researchers didn’t provide specific recommendations, there are some common sense approaches you may want to try. When the weather’s cool or even cold, get outside—ideally, to exercise, since that’s a key way to protect against diabetes. When you’re inside, keep it cool (in the low to mid 60s, for example), especially at night, since cooler temperatures make it easier to sleep. That’s cool enough to activate brown fat. (To learn more, see the Bottom Line article, “Is Your Home Too Comfy for Your Health?“)
Planning retirement? You might want to research average temperatures as part of your planning and not automatically favor the warmest places.
