If you are reading this there is a good chance you already know the routine. Flakes appear. The itch follows. You reach for the same dandruff treatment you have relied on for years. It works. For a while. Then one day it does not. So you use it more often. Still no luck. Eventually you are washing daily and searching for an itchy scalp treatment that actually holds.
You are not imagining this and your scalp is not being difficult for sport.
Most anti-dandruff shampoos are designed for short term symptom suppression, not long term scalp stability. They rely on antifungal actives combined with detergents that strip oil aggressively. Early on this feels effective. Flakes reduce. The itch settles. The problem is that nothing about the scalp environment is actually being restored.
Over time, your scalp adapts.
When oil is repeatedly stripped and the barrier disrupted, the scalp responds by producing more oil. Not because it is broken, but because it is trying to protect itself. That extra oil then becomes fuel for the same organisms the shampoo is trying to suppress. The result is predictable. The itchy scalp shampoo needs to be used again. And again. This is where people start saying their dandruff keeps coming back.
This is usually the point where daily washing becomes non-negotiable. It feels responsible. It is also where dependency quietly settles in.
pH plays a role here as well. The scalp prefers a slightly acidic environment. Most medicated shampoos do not support this, even when marketed as gentle. With repeated use, a higher pH becomes normal. Beneficial microbes struggle. Barrier function weakens. The scalp becomes reactive and more prone to scalp irritation. When the shampoo is stopped, even briefly, the flare can feel immediate. Many people take this as proof the treatment was working.
It is not.
It is proof the scalp adapted to the conditions the treatment created.
Over time, antifungal actives also lose impact. Not because formulas change, but because the environment does. This is when people start rotating brands. Something medical. Something labelled natural. Something recommended online as the best dry scalp treatment, even though the issue may not be dry scalp at all. Confusion increases. Results rarely do.
This is also where the dry scalp vs dandruff mix-up causes real damage. Products designed for dryness can worsen oil-driven flaking, and treatments aimed at fungus can further irritate a dry or compromised barrier. Many people unknowingly move between both ends of the spectrum, wondering why nothing stabilises.
By the time someone realises anti-dandruff shampoo has stopped working, they are often using more product than ever and getting worse results. This is not personal failure. It is a predictable outcome of long-term suppression without recovery.
At this stage some people try stopping altogether. Usually out of frustration rather than confidence. They stop for a few days. The scalp reacts aggressively. Flakes everywhere. Panic follows. The bottle returns. Conclusion reached. “I cannot stop using anti-dandruff shampoo.”
I thought the same thing for decades.
Eventually I removed anti-dandruff shampoo completely and observed what actually happened when chemical suppression stopped rather than paused. No tapering. No rotating brands. No backup bottle under the sink. Just consequences and data. I documented the entire experience including how bad it became before it stabilised.
That record lives on my Founder’s Journey page
https://www.victoryserums.com/pages/founders-journey
It is not advice and it is not a recommendation. It is simply a timeline of what giving up anti-dandruff shampoo entirely looked like after more than forty years of daily use. Some weeks were uncomfortable. The insights, however, were permanent.
This is why stopping suddenly often feels like failure when it is actually withdrawal. The scalp is reacting to the removal of conditions it adapted to. That reaction does not mean the shampoo was fixing the problem. It means recovery never had the chance to begin while suppression was constant.
If you are searching for a dandruff treatment at home or wondering whether you should stop using anti-dandruff shampoo, the most important step is understanding the loop before reacting to the flare.
Anti-dandruff shampoo does not stop working because your dandruff is stubborn. It stops working because the scalp environment was never supported.
Breaking that loop is not about finding the next bottle. It is about changing the conditions that made the problem persist. That usually means fewer variables, less interference, and more patience.
Your scalp does not need lifelong control.
It needs the chance to regulate again.
Matt Heron - Victory Serums Founder
