Customer Reviews

Nizoral A-D Shampoo

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I found out about this product several years ago when my doctor gave me the perscription formula for a bout of dandruff. It eventually became available in the non-perscription (1%) formula and for me, on the occasions that I need it the non-perscription formula has worked perfectly.

It is a very nice shampoo, aside from the anti-dandruff properties. It has a tingly (not burning or caustic feel) fresh feeling when you are using it and lathers extreamly well even in the hard water I have at home. After using it my hair has a very clean but not dry feeling.

I will use it from time to time as needed (usually in the fall) and I just had my son use it as well. It worked very well for him too and after the first use, the flakes were pretty much gone. Typically I will use it about a week and than I won't need it anymore. I also try to leave the lather on a few minutes to give it a chance to *work*.

I have to say that if you are in the market for a dandruff shampoo chose this one. The price is anywhere from a lot to a bit higher than the others but I haven't had to go out an buy anything else if I bought this first. I can't say that about the other products so in the long run this is most cost effective for me.

I decided to make my own ketoconazole shampoo because I refuse to pay the price gougers on Amazon. ($109, really?!) My son has severe scalp seborrheic dermatitis due to the rampant hormones of puberty, and our pediatrician recommended Nizoral. I did a literature search to learn the chemistry. See Useful Articles below if you need some juicy bedtime reading ;-)

First, if helpful, here's my layman's understanding of how various anti-dandruff shampoos work (since I had to do all that legwork anyway):

Dandruff in general is accelerated skin cell maturation/shedding cycles (keratinization) and the "disorganized" attachment of lipid droplets to skin cells as they migrate to the outer layer of the scalp, thereby forming itchy flakes. Seborrheic dermatitis is the population explosion of opportunistic Malassezia fungus feasting on increased scalp sebum in addition to the above conditions. There are 7 species of Malassezia, and one in particular loves scalp sebum because it's rich in the saturated hard fats: triglycerides and cholesterol.

Ketoconazole is a broad spectrum antifungal that directly attacks Malassezia by causing their cell membranes to break down. It's also anti-inflammatory and reduces sebum. The mechanisms of action of selenium sulfide and zinc pyrithione are less well understood. Both reduce Malassezia count and scalp sebum, but basically tackle dandruff by other routes. Zinc pyrithione normalizes the abnormal keratin structure of the stratum corneum resulting in fewer lipid inclusions between skin cells, and therefore fewer flakes. Selenium sulfide reduces the cell turnover rate, which is normally 28-30 days but has been observed to be a week or less in cases of dandruff. Salicylic acid breaks down skin cell-sebum plaques or flakes; in other words, it's symptom management and can be useful in combination with other active ingredients. I passed over tar and sulfur shampoos as my son won't use them. Tea tree oil is out for us; it's a phytoestrogen that's documented to be feminizing if used regularly by boys.

Making ketoconazole shampoo:

In summary, antifungal medications are lipophilic, so you need a fat solvent -- or so I thought until I tried fish pills--- followed by an emulsifier to keep ketoconazole dispersed evenly in your shampoo.

The important issue is formulating ketoconazole at one percent. That begs the question: one percent of what? At one point in the shortage, we had been able to get the 2% Nizoral from the UK thru Amazon, and I saved the leaflet which stated: "The active ingredient in 1 g of Nizoral Dandruff Shampoo is ketoconazole 20mg." Therefore the 1% represents a percentage of VOLUME. This saves us from the impossible task of titration.

This shampoo has worked beautifully. Materials needed:
(1) Aqua Fungus 200mg ketoconazole tablets. 30 tablets, for fish, from Amazon $19.99 + $5 shipping. I figured fish pills just might be water soluable. Indeed they are.

(2) Polysorbate-80, 2 ounces, $2. It's a safe, low toxicity solvent/emulsifier commonly found in food and shampoo. It's inexpensive and readily available from DIY cosmetics websites such as Making Cosmetics, Lotion Crafter, Garden of Wisdom, etc.

(3) A bottle of shampoo with a refillable opening. I used Organix Morocco Argan Oil Shampoo, 385 ml or 13 fluid ounces. I chose argan oil because it's a lipid and a known hair softener that eliminates the need for a conditioner.

(4) A food scale. If you don't have one, you can just use as much shampoo as I did.

(5) A long clean stick for stirring. I used a stainless steel escargot fork because it's easy to sterilize.

(6) A sterile pyrex measuring cup large enough to hold most of your shampoo.

Procedure:
(1) I bought a 385 ml bottle of shampoo, therefore 1% volume-wise would be 3.8 or 3.9 ml. The pills are dosaged in milligrams, so you need a ml to mg coverter. Google that, and count out the required number of pills on your food scale. I used 11 pills.

(2) Fold a thick piece of paper in half. You don't want it to tear. The crease in the paper will help you transfer the crushed pills very neatly. I used a new Papyrus notecard. Put the pills along the fold and crush them as fine as possible with a small hammer or similar.

(3) Put the powder in a small, sterile cup, such as a shotglass. Add just enough distilled or boiled/cooled water to mix it thoroughly. Add a couple of teaspoons of polysorbate 80 and stir.

(4) Pour your shampoo into the pyrex cup first and then add the crushed pill mixture. Stir well and pour back into bottle.

If your shampoo separates from using too much water, shake the bottle before use. It's easier than a do-over.

It might also be helpful to...
-- leave the shampoo on 5 minutes before rinsing.
-- shampoo your hairbrush also
-- change pillowcases frequently

Useful Articles:
Drug delivery strategies for improved azole antifungal action, W.Yang, et al, November, 2008. informahealthcare.com

Design and Development of Topical Microemulsion for Poorly Water-Soluble Antifungal Agents, P. Paranajoti, et al, Journal of Applied Research,2002

An Overview of Medicated Shampoos used in Dandruff Treatment, A. Sanfilippo & J. English. ptcommunity.com

Dandruff has an Altered Stratum Corneum Ultrastructure that is Improved with Zinc Pyrithione Shampoo, R.R. Warner, et al., Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, Vol 45, Number 6.

My head. What was wrong with my head??? I say this because I never had problems with dandruff until my late twenties, when all of a sudden my skin started flaking off when touched. My eyebrows, my scalp, and even my ears! Friends would make fun of my ears and say I have wax in them, but it was really just loose skin flakes.

I gave it some time (a few years) hoping it would pass, trying different washing procedures, shampoos, etc. Basically, anytime I'de go in the shower.. I'de get out, dry.. and my skin would quickly follow with dryness, redness and flakes. It was ugly.

Finally, I get the nerve to see a dermatologist - and I say this because I dont like doctors much. The dermo told me that I needed to treat the problem, sebhoric dermatitis. Gave me a bunch of Neutrogena anti-dandruff samples and what not. I didnt like them and pretty much threw them in the garbage. They looked and smelled very chemically and I dont want that kinda stuff on my body.

A few months later I did some more research and found ingredients on Wiki about what relieves dandruff. I searched for that ingredient and found that Nizoral uses that same ingredient in their shampoo. Google + amazon = nizoral shampoo. Click to buy, a day or two later its delivered to my door and I used it that same day. Within the first, second or third use my symptoms were gone. I could care less about price, its cheap compared to the 80 dollar dermatologist visit which got me nowhere. Like everyone else said, its very foamy and cleans well.

I wash my hair every 3 days and quickly scrub it in and rinse it out, I dont care to leave it in. Basically, its in there long enough to do what it needs to do - and it does it well.

Since then, I've been dandruff free thanks to Nizoral. It appears that Ferrari and Nizoral are now two fabulous products that come from Italy.

I tried other dandruff shampoos but this is the only thing that worked for me. My scalp was so itchy and I had dandruff. I didn't want to spend so much on a shampoo that might or might not work so I wasted my money trying everything else first. The first time I used this shampoo, the itching was gone and the second time using the shampoo, the dandruff was gone as well. Now I only have to use this once and a while, maybe monthly if that, and I just use a small amount, so it has lasted a long time. Well worth the money to stop a very annoying problem.

I have tried many treatments for seborrhoeic dermatitis and dandruff. Here are the results:

I tried both Nizoral/Ketoconazole 1% (OTC) & Nizoral/Ketoconazole 2% (Prescription). Both did not appear to be effective (also, I did not notice much of difference between 1% and 2%). The BENEFITS of Nizoral/Ketoconazole is that it is relatively mild, can be used frequently, does not have a strong fragrance or odor, and does not affect the texture or quality of your hair. The two important DRAWBACKS are the price and the fact that, in my experience, it is ineffective in treating seborrhoeic dermatitis (it doesn't appear to do anything more than a regular shampoo).

Neutrogena T-Gel (coal tar) and salicylic acid are WAY TOO HARSH and should only be used as a last resort, or to treat scalp psoriasis. You can type "Seborrheic Dermatitis Versus Psoriasis" into Google to read the difference between the two (Quickly: scalp psoriasis is the less-common, more-painful condition; its scales often have minor bleeding when scarped off manually). Both coal tar and salicylic acid made my hair extremely rough, tough, and dry. All the conditioner in the world made no difference. I had to wait for new hair to grow and get a haircut to get the my original relatively soft hair hair back.

Zinc pyrithione (Head & Shoulders) is nearly useless. It is popular because it is cheap and was the first widely available treatment for seborrhoeic dermatitis.

RECOMMENDATION: I recommend Selenium Sulfide 1% (sold as "Selsun Blue" or "Head and Shoulders Intensive Treatment" in the Dark-Blue bottle) because it is EFFECTIVE and reasonably priced. I found Selenium Sulfide 1% to be the most effective in treating seborrhoeic dermatitis. It is not as mild as Nizoral/Ketoconazole but it works without excessive drying. On the whole, perople's experience are that Selenium Sulfide 1% and Nizoral/Ketoconazole 1% are the best treatments (if the latter works for you).

I did not buy this product on Amazon. But I went off of the reviews, having found Tgel, Selson, etc all to fail at stopping the snowstorm off my scalp. In two wks, for the first time in 15yrs, flakes were no longer falling. Further, I can use only a tab (sz of a fingernail), and it suds up far, far better than Tgel. Hence, you use less, likely evening out the cost/oz issue.

Which is just icing, as the effectiveness alone would have me spend 2x as much for this stuff. YMMV, but give it a shot if you avoid black shirts due to your scalp condition (or the skin between your eyebrows, which for me, at last, no longer flakes). Cheers.

I have been looking for a Dandruff Shampoo that would help out for the last 10 years. Head & Shoulders would make it worse and all of the other brands the same.
I happened to see this shampoo on another site and heard good reviews.
As usual I was skeptical at first.

Got the product and the first 2 time's I only noticed a little less dandruff.
I decided to stay with it as the directions said two to three times a week.

It has been 2-3 weeks and I'm now Dandruff free!

All I have to say is that this stuff works and I will be ordering more as soon as this bottle runs out.....it's worth the price.

This shampoo although good for dandruff and a dry scalp, works good for hair loss. I have been using this and the perfect image solution minoxidil and the two combined really has helped stop my hair from shedding, that is the first step to regrowing that hair back.

During the winter time, my scalp gets dry, flakey, & itchy. I have tried different dandruff shampoos that would temporarily work and because my hair is pretty long I end up going through the bottle within 2 weeks. Not only that some of the dandruff shampoos would sometimes burn my scalp...not a favorable feeling. Nizoral really does work. I noticed a difference with the 2nd use. Major plus, this shampoo lathers very well so I don't have to squirt a load each use.

This is the best dandruff shampoo out there. With any other shampoo, I'm scratching my head in 2 days, which means I'll need to use more. With Nizoral it takes about a good 6 - 7 days before I have an itch, with hair washing.