Need everyone to help!!!

[Pottamus]

Right...need everyone's experience and advice here! I need to know if anyone else has the same problem with their riding hat/scalp as me!!! I have just about had as much as I can take over the years of suffering from a flaky and incredably itchy scalp...
I am wondering if it is my riding hat when I get hot and sweaty and need to know if anyone else suffers like this too?
Unfortunately I sweat easily and it is not through lack of fitness but need to find a solution as it does not seem to be diet related.
Everyone PLEASE HELP by letting me know if they have this problem too or managed to find a solution to it....
Thanks.

[nutkin]

I do suffer flat lank,greasy hair as a result of wearing my riding hat but not a flaky scalp.It is possibly connected to the sweaty head though.Do you have a hat with air vents in it as this should go quite a long way to helping solve your problem.Which shampoo are you using for your hair?It may be down to that also.

[HorseyBabe2]

I don't actually think there is anything you can do diet wise or anything. If you tend to have a sweaty head, then you tend to have a sweaty head (like having sweaty feet I think).
I suspect the only solution would be to wash your hair every day after you ride and have to live with it while you're riding :mad: .

Also it depends what shampoo you use
I too have a very flaky, itchy and sometimes greasy scalp. I have been using Head and Shoulders for years after trying averything else on the market and it works really well. No more flaky itchy scalp. At all.
Also I tend to avoid conditioners as they are too heavy and tend to make my hair lank and greasy. I do occaisionally use a very light conditioner (about once a month or so).

[Soupdragon]

I suffered from a dry flaky itchy and greasy scalp a few years ago - had no idea what was causing it as had same style riding hat for years (with air vents) and there'd been no changes to diet or shampoo, etc. I have always washed my hair everyday, then and now!

Problem eventually went away but not until after I'd tried all kinds of lotions and potions ... I now use an Aveda scalp balancing shampoo and conditioner alternated with Aveda Shampure and fingers crossed everything seems okay .. but I condition without fail everyday and concentrate on conditioning my scalp as opposed to my hair!

I think mine's stress related as I do get occasional bouts of extra flakiness when stressed ...

Might be worth going to see your doctor?

[curlycal]

I've got a Troxel Legacy vented hat, which makes my head a lot less sweaty then the RS scull cap one.

Cal x

[acw295]

I swear by Nutrogena T Gel shampoo, with it my scalp if fine, without it, it itches like mad. Hat doesn't help but doesn't cause it in my case as had in when I had a break from riding. Agree stress also doesn't hlp - my skin gets worse all over if I'm stressed out.

[Ruskii]

Another head and shoulders fan here as well, although my hat has vents in it as well and I find that helped. If you dont ride for a while, do you still get a dry and flaky scalp ? If so then I giveHead and Shoulders ago and see how you get on with it, also do you have thick or fine hair ?

[Pottamus]

Thanks for all the replies guys...I am coming to the conclusion that I need to invest in a new hat with vents in it! Christmas is coming! Will have to manage until then with the problem as I have tried every lotion and potion possible to control it but it keeps on being there!
The best trial would be to not ride for a while but can't possibly do that!!! Riding is my life and love after all! Thanks anyway!

[loopyh]

I have wanted one of the hats with the vents for ages but do wonder whether they actually do any good. I also get really hot and sweaty although not itchy or flaky - my face is always bright red when I come off and I wondered if the air vents would help - are they really worth the money?

[Skib]

I replied to this before and then didnt post because there was another thread on this recently - discussing bacterial and fungal infection in riding hats.
It isnt the type of hat that is important but how you store it, dry it etc, as discussed on the previous thread. And for safety as well as hygene hats should be replaced after 2-3 years anyway. Vented hats are not necessarily the safest. Nor will they necessarily solve the problem.

My OH suffers and my advice would be to see the GP. What you describe sounds like a possible infection to me. It should be treated as it can sometimes spread to one's face.
And if both your scalp and your hat are affected, you need to solve both parts of the equation at the same time. Ask the doctors advice. May be even consider buying a cheap hat to wear while the treatment is going on. And then when your scalp is clear buy a good new hat.

One should be able to ride in a heavy duty UK riding hat in tropical heat, dismount with both the hat and one's hair sopping wet with sweat, and still not have the problems you describe.

[*GroovyGallop*]

I'm not sure about the scalp.. but for the sweaty hair bit, I put dry shampoo on before i put my riding hat on, it doesnt stop my hair being drentched, but it helps slightly :o

[LindaAd]

Vented hats are not necessarily the safest. Nor will they necessarily solve the problem.

.

I just bought a new vented hat, and the shop owner told me that it conformed to exactly the same standard as the jockey skull. I wouldn't buy one that didn't.

I don't have a scalp problem, I just bought the new one because the old one was dead, and I haven't noticed that it feels cooler or lighter. But it's wonderful not to have a silk to worry about.

[Skib]

that it conformed to exactly the same standard as the jockey skull.
Linda I think we posted about this when you bought the hat?
That when I wanted to change from my skull to a vented one the RI at the yard where I hack (who had a Troxell himself ) told me that since I was more at risk than he was, to stick with what I have.
The standards for hats are a mess - in that ordinary folk like me cant understand them.
This is the UK web site with standards
http://www.beta-uk.org/Safety/HatStandards.asp
If you can understand it, you are brighter than I am. There are Australian, EU, USA and British standards.
Some just approve the design (I think) and some like the BS Kite Mark regularly check hats coming off the production line.
Standards set a minimum level, so two hats in the shop may both pass the British standard but one may be stronger than the other.

My understanding is that mine is an eventing hat. British Eventing state what sort of hat you need to wear to compete cross country but again I cant find anything on their web site. People have recently posted that it must not have a fixed peak. Hence the silk which you are so glad to be rid of. But beyond that, I am in the dark.

I bought my hat because it was the one in the shop that fitted me. And was picked out as the best buy in a horsey mag at the time. I am about to buy another identical after crashing onto tarmac last week. Because the others I hanker after still dont fit.

[Skib]

I have pushed a bit further through the jungle of hat standards.

It seems that my skull hat (Gatehouse) passes the SNELL E2001 Standard. However, the Snell standard does not appear on the British standards web site I posted above.

But I have found Pony Club hat instructions for 2006 which explain a bit more about all the standards, including the Snell.

http://www.pcuk.org/output/parents/HATRULE2006.doc

[beckyboo]

hello i ride race horses so i use a bandanner under my riding hat so when i sweat i just get a clean one out :o

[julia gulia]

I developed a VERY itchy scalp years ago and found out that I had a thyroid problem. I thought it was my riding helmet :o

[Afellpony]

I was absolutely horrified when a colleague told me that the stables she rides at provides hats if folk turn up without them. Unhygienic? I think so.

[rowdent]

Sounds uncomfortable.. I get VERY greasy lank hat hair, but not itchy? Could be infection or something, it definately doesn't sound right, personally I'd get it checked....

As for the borrowed hats, probably better infected than dead? :rolleyes: