[jennygirl]

A few weeks ago I posted a question about scalp care - thinking I was dealing with dry skin. Basically my DD had brown flaky skin on her whole head, top of her ear and on the back of her neck. Took her the dr (at the request of daycare) and the dr did a culture - thinking it might be a fungus. Come to find out it was MOLD!! What???? When the nurse called she asked if my DD's scalp had cleared up and I said it had. I have been using Selsun Blue once a week (as directed by the dr) and that I just started using olive oil on her scalp because I thought it was just dry skin. So needless to say I was floored when she told me it was mold. She couldn't give me any idea how mold would start growing on her head.

I'm still freaked out alittle Freaked out because if I don't know how it happend the first time - how can I prevent it in the furture???

Has anyone else had or heard of this?

[Magic_Hat]

That is freaky! Yikes, how does that happen?
I've heard of the fungus though. I'm so glad it's cleared up.

[mommytoEli]

my sister, an adult, has super SUPER thick curly hair. she was washing it and then letting it dry naturally...which took most of the day, if it dried at all. she was getting mold in her hair. does your dd maybe have a lot of thick hair that may just not be letting the scalp dry quickly after a washing?

[devildogwife]

Originally Posted by mommytoEli

my sister, an adult, has super SUPER thick curly hair. she was washing it and then letting it dry naturally...which took most of the day, if it dried at all. she was getting mold in her hair. does your dd maybe have a lot of thick hair that may just not be letting the scalp dry quickly after a washing?

Oh my gosh I do this! I have enough hair on my head for like 4 people and I just let it air dry all the time. Yikes, no more.

[sbaglio]

I suspect that the fungus is a type of mold, which is totally different from mold that you might see growing on old bread or in damp closets. Fungi can take several forms - yeast, mold, etc. Mold on the head is just a description of a type of fungus that afflicts humans, not the environmental mold

[jennygirl]

mommytoeli, my ds has really curly hair but it's not super thick.

sbaglio, thanks for making me feel a little better

i understand that mold is in the fungus family but the nurse stated that if my DS's scalp hadn't cleared up then the dr was going to need to do some research to figure out how to treat the mold. which leds me to believe that mold on the scalp isn't very common -- especially since no one here is stating otherwise

i guess this is one of those things that never gets a real answer, like how does only one sock come out of the washer when you know you put in two

[BeckyS]

A stylist (who was trimming dd's ends) once told me to make sure that dd's hair dries completely, especially when cornrowed. He said that because her hair is so thick, that it was possible for mold to grow if it stayed damp for extended periods. That said, we have never had that problem. Glad that you were able to find something that remedied it.

[SupaModel]

WARNING GROSS STORY!!!!!!! DO NOT READ ON WEAK STOMACH

Well years ago I had my freind put in a fake ponytail on my head (Think Madonna in 90's) and he shoved a bobby pin so hard into my scalp. It hurts really bad but I thought he just scrapped it so I kept the ponytail in. Well after a week I could kinda smell something funny and I thought maybe the fake hair was giving off this odor. The follwing week i go to the salon to have the ponytail taken off and when they removed it was the WORST smell ever!!! Seriously like something died. My scalp where the ponytail had been was seriously RAW. It's was old blood and GREEN with MILDEW!!!!! I'm talking seriously disgusting green goo. The whole hair salon had to be cleared out because of the smell. Right now I have a bald spot there because the hair never grew back.

You were warned!

[mommytoEli]

Originally Posted by SupaModel

You were warned!

fair enough...lol...and i kept reading anyways...that is so funny! but extremely disgusting!

[BeckyS]

Dang, that musta hurt like heck!

[spitfirema2009]

yes you can get mold on your head to treat first take comb and lightly scrap scalp then wash hair well with head and shoulders, selsun blue ect then dri hair full with blow drier. this will get rid of the mold as well as keep it from coming back

[ChromaKelly]

Skip the oil for a while. Caleb had cradle cap and I was treating it with olive oil, but that was making it worse. I think it also caused a fungus. Keep the scalp nice and dry, even if her hair gets a little dry for a while. I ended up using Calendula cream to clear up his cradle cap.